Into Thin Air
by bigblackhorse4
Summary: Kate's past after the bank robbery in Santa Fe that ultimately leads her to Australia and the doomed Oceanic Flight 815. Kate is rescued by a teenage girl, Aly, and her horse, Chase when running from the police. But Chase isn't just any horse...
1. Chapter 1: The Chase Part 1

**Into Thin Air**

**Chapter 1 **_The Chase: Part 1_

Kate froze in place, controlling her ragged breathing until all she could hear was the eery silence of the woods around her. She strained her ears listening for the footfalls that would tell her she was still being chased. She heard nothing, not even the quiet sounds that normally inhabited a forest. They were still tailing her then; they just had finally realized that it might be better to sacrifice speed for silence.

Now that her heart rate was down at normal rhythm, she began walking cautiously, striving to make the least amount of noise as possible. The visibility in the forest wasn't very good, and if someone was really quiet, she'd never hear them come up on her until it was far too late to react. Damn, I wish I had a gun she thought to herself. Not having one made her feel so uneasy especially since she could barely see 10 feet to each side of her with all the bushes and downed trees littering the forest floor. The fact that she was being followed by scores of police officers, whose locations were currently unknown to her, wasn't helping to ease that anxiety.

The sound of a twig snapping sent Kate whirling around in the direction of the sound. She ceased all movement when she saw the barrel of a high-calibre rifle pointing directly at her head.

"Now, don't you try to run there lil' miss. Orders are we're supposed to take ya' alive, so don't force me to break them orders," the police officer said in very much out of place southern drawl. Very out of place since she was running through part of a national forest in central _Colorado_.

She didn't even so much as twitch a muscle, but her mind was working in overdrive, trying to find an opening, a weakness in this younger, _clearly_ inexperienced officer. Chances are, she thought, this is his first real chase. Means he's going to be cocky. Maybe I can make a run for it if he gets distracted?...She instantly snapped back to reality when she heard shouts, presumably from other police officers, in the distance.

The officer turned slightly and hollered, "Yeah! I got 'er. Told ya' there was nothin' to it! Just show a girl a gun and she'll surrender cuz she don't want any bullets to mess up her purty lil' face!" Kate didn't need anymore of an opening than that. She bolted and dodged through the seemingly never-ending trees, and further increased her speed when she noticed the trees were beginning to thin. There she could see a grade in the land rising up of the forest. Kate was hoping beyond hope for rocks on the hill, because then even dogs would have a difficult time tracking her. She would leave no tracks, no scent on rocks, which might be her only chance for getting out of this mess.

As luck would have it, there were rocks on the hill. The hill could've been more or less described as a very large pile of rocks. It was an astonishing landmark, the mass of boulders towering over many of the tall pines that surrounded it. She scrambled across the rocks at the lower part of the hill, and then quickly began climbing up them as the grade of the hill steepened. Kate was in her element here; there had never been anything she couldn't climb, ever since she was a little kid. This talent had saved her countless times, from her childhood up until this moment where she was running like hell to evade capture and ultimately arrest.

She reached the crest of the hill, and quickly scanned the surrounding area. She heard more shouts off in the distance, and then some much closer. _Much too close_; a bullet whizzed by her head as dove down in between two large boulders. Idiot! she thought, mentally chastising herself. That had to be one of the stupidest things she'd done! Things like that were going to get her killed or worse! She waited listening to see if the cops were going to try to climb across the rocks and up the hill after her. All she could hear from her current position wedged between the two slabs of rock were voices, that were apparently debating over a very similar topic.

"Where the hell did she go?! I _know_ you did not make that shot so she can't be injured or dead," she heard one man say. "When's the last time you even hit _near_ the bull's eye out at the shooting range? And anyways we're not supposed to aim to kill her!"

The other man sputtered, "I didn't try to shoot her in the head! I was aiming for her...leg..."

The first man that had spoken said, "I rest my fcking case!" and then muttered something about incompetence and idiots that spent more time at the nearest doughnut shop than actually doing something useful, like staying in shape or practicing at the shooting range.

Kate grinned despite her predicament and slowly began climbing down the far side of the hill, taking care to make sure she was hidden from view. She was about halfway to the base when she heard shots in the distance. What the hell are they shooting at? she wondered as the gunshots began to get closer, automatically quickening her pace in response to hearing the gunshots.

Soon she was at the bottom of the hill, which was surrounded by a semi-circle of rocks that fanned out around the base. That's good, she thought, more area for the dogs to lose my scent on. She half-ran, half-leaped across the rocks, making sure to keep her feet from sliding in between the rocks. She could _not_ afford a broken or sprained ankle right now.

She was nearing the edge of the rocks when she heard footfalls gaining on her. Wait she thought, not footfalls, they were hoofbeats. Sht! her mind screamed. They had mounted police after her! Kate put on an extra burst of pure adrenaline-powered speed, but she knew it was pointless; there was no way in _hell _she could out run a horse.

Kate was sprinting as fast as she could even though it still wouldn't be fast enough. She just couldn't concede defeat that easily. She didn't dare to look back, but she knew the horse wasn't too far behind. That was when it happened; her foot slid in between two rocks and jerked. She fell forward, managing to break her fall with her hands, and then scrambled to her feet, but she could feel her ankle swelling to gigantic proportions inside her well-worn hiking boots. Despair and panic flowed freely through Kate's body; she wouldn't be able to run any further.

"Hurry! Swing up!" Kate's head shot up to see a teenage girl astride a huge black horse kick her foot free of the stirrup on the saddle to leave it dangling 6 inches from Kate's stunned face.

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Captain William O'Dell of the Darbiton, Colorado Police Department leveled a glare that could have withered a plant on the spot at his newest recruit. The young officer gulped accordingly, and shuffled his feet in the dirt of the forest floor.

The Captain could still hear shouts and gunshots in the distance, but he wasn't much of a help there. He was beginning to slow down as he grew older and his joints grew stiffer. Yes, he thought, the chases were for the younger, and _apparently_ the more foolhardy. And here was _the_ prime example. He drew in his breath and asked very calmly (or so he thought), "Can you please tell me how you managed to catch our criminal, and then just LET HER GO?!?!?!"

The young officer flinched but quickly responded, "I chased 'er down, and I had 'er, but then she was gone! Twas' like she disappeared inta thin air!"

The Captain sighed and rubbed his tired eyes, and thought for the hundredth time that day, that he should really consider retiring soon.


	2. Chapter 2: The Chase Part 2

**Chapter 2**_The Chase: Part 2_

"Hurry! They weren't to far behind me!" the girl whispered loudly as she tried to drag Kate up onto the saddle. Kate felt like everything was moving in slow motion. Who was this girl? Why was she trying to help her? Were the police after her too? Was _she_ a police officer? Her mind was running in endless circles of these thoughts until the horse swung its head around and eyed her with a penetrating look. Kate felt her stomach clench up and she could hear her heartbeat pounding through her ears as it dawned on her what horse it was.

There was absolutely no doubt in her mind as to which horse it was. But this is impossible! she thought, how is it here? The last time she had ever seen this horse was that fateful night back in...

"Hello?! If you want them to catch you then I'll be going," the girl said as she gathered up the reins and the horse pivoted 90 degrees on its hindquarters, turning away from the rock-bed and Kate, about to leap into a gallop.

"Wait!" Kate yelled, coming back to her senses. The girl wheeled the horse back around to halt it perpendicular to the rock Kate was standing on and Kate gingerly stuck her swollen left foot in the stirrup and swung up behind the saddle and wrapped her arms around the girl's midsection to hold on.

"Hang on tight, this is going to be a tricky ride," the girl said as she nudged the horse's sides, urging him into a run. Kate nodded and clung on as the horse darted in between the trees, running away from the sounds and sights of the police chase.

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Sht! Aly thought as a gun sounded off behind her. That was _way _too close for comfort. She hoped that she hadn't miscalculated in how far it was to the tiny glade she had left Chase, along with all of her equipment, in. Because she needed a fast get away and she needed it _now_. It can't be much farther she thought, but her energy was waning fast. Even someone in as good physical shape as her wouldn't have lasted for as long as she had, especially, when people, _no_ police, were taking pot-shots at her through the dense underbrush of the forest.

Aly's lungs were burning with a lack of oxygen when she finally recognized the vaguely wolf-shaped rock that signified she was getting close to the entrance to the small meadow where Chase was. Summing up her remaining breath, she whistled one short, high note. The answering whinny almost made her go limp with relief. Good, she thought, they hadn't found him. Chase came pounding up to her side, and she was instantly thankful for her foresight to leave Chase tacked up with all her gear stowed away in the packs attached to the front and back of her saddle. Now she really could make a quick getaway and unless the police had gotten smart, which she severely doubted, they wouldn't be able to find her or catch her unless she got in their line of sight. And she wasn't planning on being seen now that she'd lost her pursuers so she ought to be able to get out of this scot-free.

She swiftly tightened the girth so the saddle wouldn't slip, and then mustering her remaining strength, she swung her right leg over Chase's broad back and settled into the saddle. Once she was seated in the saddle, she felt her energy flow back into her. There's nothing in the world like being on a horse she thought with a smile spreading across her face, nothing like it at all. Aly picked up the reins off Chase's arched neck, and pressed her heels to his side and he responded by moving into a restrained gallop that led them deeper into the forest.

Aly pointed Chase due north hoping to get much closer to the distant mountains before the cops had the sense to call in the dogs or the helicopters, or both. But galloping through the forest was extremely difficult; Chase couldn't run his fastest because he continuously had to dodge tree roots and trees, and even jump an occasional downed tree. And she knew this would take its toll on Chase. Sure he'd be able to continue this pace for hours more, but it really wasn't healthy for him to do it. It'd drain all his energy and he'd have to spend days resting and recovering. Well, she thought, I guess that's better than me getting caught by the police and Chase probably getting shipped off to some far away place where she'd never see him again.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't realize they were _towards _the sound of gunfire until Chase whinnied at her to get her attention back at the situation at hand. She reined him back to a halt, so she could listen carefully. Had they gotten her surrounded? No, because the shots were to far off to be aimed at her. But what were they shooting at then? Then she heard the baying of hounds, probably about a mile or two behind her. She silently cursed anyone and everything she could think of at that moment, but she knew that wouldn't help matters so she tried to figure what the hell Chase and her were going to do. She finally came to the conclusion that there was only one thing to do; try to skirt around the gunfire that was on their left and then continue heading north towards the jagged peaks of the mountains she could she through the breaks in the trees, away from the dogs and police that more likely than not following their trail. Yes, that was their only option.

Aly nudged Chase into a gallop again, and signaled him to go more to their right in a northeast direction away from the where they'd heard the gunfire, but Chase tossed his head and turned left, facing northwest. Aly panicked and tried to turn him back but Chase pinned his ears and doggedly continued his course. "What are you doing you crazy horse," Aly asked as she leaned down on his neck to avoid being impaled on a low tree branch. The stallion snorted in response and sped up, towards a destination known only to him.

Then she noticed more light was coming into the dark forest. An open area, she thought jubilantly, this is where we can put some distance between us and them! Aly crouched low over Chase's neck to lend him speed, but once he was free of the forest he, yet again, swerved left, this time towards a very rocky hill. Aly glanced up and saw a figure climbing down the side of the hill, and then upon reaching the bottom began sprinting across the half-moon shaped field of rocks at the base of the hill in the opposite direction from her and Chase.

Chase's ears pricked and dug in hard to catch up with the person sprinting with all haste away from them. As they gained on the person Aly noticed immediately that the person was not a cop. She was running _from _the cops. She also had nothing in the way of belongings on her person, and that she was running out of energy fast. Just as Chase got about fifteen feet away from the person, the girl's (or woman's? Aly thought, it was impossible to tell her age at the moment) left foot lodged in between two boulders and sent her sprawling across the rocks. At this time Chase had drawn even with the girl (woman?), and Aly barely had to touch the reins before he slid to a stop beside her.

The person stood up facing Chase and Aly, and Aly saw a pretty woman with dark brown hair that dusted past her shoulders that appeared to be in her early to mid-twenties that looked a lot like someone she'd once known. The look on her face displayed shock beyond all belief. She was wearing a set of hiking boots, a faded black tank top, and a pair of khaki green cargo pants which looked like they'd seen better days so at least she'd somewhat blend in with the forest. Not as good as my outfit will, Aly thought, but it'll have to do.

"Hurry!" Aly said to the woman. "Swing up!" She kicked the stirrup off her foot so the woman could mount up behind her. But the woman just stared blankly at her. Aly tried again, "Hurry! They weren't too far behind me!" and grabbed the woman's arm and tried to pull her up into the saddle. But the woman's face still registered shock and she wouldn't budge from her spot on the rocks, so Chase swung his head around and fixed the woman with a stare that definitely would have made Aly flinch, but if anything the woman looked even more surprised.

This is a waste of time Aly thought, I'm not going to risk my butt to save hers, especially since I've never met the woman before in my life! "Hello?! If you want them to catch you then I'll be going," Aly said and turned Chase towards the trees. Then she heard the woman yell "Wait!" so she swiftly spun Chase back around, and waited for the woman to stick her left foot in the stirrup and swing up behind her. She felt the woman's arms wrap around her stomach and with a warning to the woman to hold on, she urged Chase into a gallop towards the trees, hoping desperately that the woman had some sense of balance because she had enough on her plate besides keeping a fellow fugitive from the law on Chase while galloping headlong into a forest she wasn't really that familiar with. This is going to be interesting she thought, and then belatedly, she wondered how Chase had known the woman was there and why he'd risked their lives to save her's. Huh, she thought, looks like there's more to this than I thought, as she gazed at Chase.


	3. Chapter 3: Of Pseudonyms & Soup Packets

Alrighty here's Ch. 3 as promised! Hope you enjoy! Ch. 4 will be posted later on this week sometime. Whenever I get the chance!

**Chapter 3 **_Of Pseudonyms & Soup Packets _

Exhaustion was seeping into her body, invading slowly, but steadily gaining ground. Kate had no notion as to how long they'd been running. Time had slowed to a crawl, and yet at the same time it was racing by at blinding speeds. Its effect on her mind was numbing and draining. She shook her head to clear away the fatigue, and thought fiercely at herself, You cannot fall asleep! You have to stay awake until we stop! She tried to fight it off, but Kate hadn't eaten since the night before, and she was slowly succumbing to its overwhelming power. She clung on desperately to consciousness _and_ the horse's broad back, knowing that this girl and that horse were her only chances of escaping this, as much as she hated to rely on someone else to save her.

"You hungry?" Kate heard through the fog of her clouded thoughts as the girl turned around to face her. Kate nodded slowly, and mentally cursed herself for not getting any of her stash before hightailing it out of the town. Stupid, stupid, stupid she thought, you'd think you would be better at this by now. But she really hadn't had a choice. The cops had shown up at the motel she'd been staying at, and she decided not to risk getting seen by them so she'd been forced to leave everything behind, except the few things she kept on her person at all times.

Kate watched as the girl dug around in one of the saddle bags, and then handed her a pack of trail mix. "Sorry, this is all I've got that you can eat right now," the girl said. The girl glanced at Kate again, this time with a slight frown, then slipped out of her army fatigue jacket, handing it mutely to Kate. Instantly, Kate realized how cold she was, and with a murmur of thanks, she shrugged the jacket on. Much better, she thought as she munched happily on the trail mix, now content enough to last until they made camp. Though she _really_ hoped that they'd stop sometime in the very near future.

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Chase is gonna need a break soon, Aly thought anxiously. She thought they'd lost their trackers hours ago, but she had absolutely no way of knowing for sure. So she'd continued to push Chase hard through the forest for more than four hours, alternating between galloping and trotting, only stopping twice to ensure they were heading in the right direction. North by northeast, she thought, and as she reined Chase back to a halt to check their direction again, she suddenly recalled the fact that she had another passenger on board. I'm impressed, Aly thought, most people would've been voicing their complaints by now. This woman hasn't _even_ said a word. Very impressive, indeed.

Aly wondered if the woman was hungry. Aly wasn't, but then again, she'd been so used to skimping and skipping meals that going on for a couple more hours without a bite to eat wasn't going to even faze her. Chase needed food, but she couldn't feed him until they set up camp so the only creature she could help right now was the woman sitting on Chase right behind her.

"You hungry?" Aly whispered as she turned her face back to see the woman's face. The woman nodded slowly as if in a daze. Wonder if she's okay, Aly thought, cause she definitely isn't looking so good. Aly turned back and rummaged through one of the saddle bags and pulled out a baggie of trail mix. There, maybe that bring some color back to her face, Aly thought. She turned back and handed it to the woman, casting a scrutinizing eye over the woman as she accepted the food. My god, she must be freezing in that tank Aly thought instantly. She quickly slipped out of her army fatigue jacket, and handed it to the woman. The woman uttered a quiet "thank you" before putting her arms through the jacket sleeves, and then began to slowly eat the package of trail mix. Aly turned back around, smiling, now satisfied that the woman was content, and starting scanning through the darkness of the forest, trying to locate a spot for them to make their camp.

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Kate's eyes kept dragging themselves down; sated from the food and warmth of the jacket, she lost the battle. It was a dreamless sleep, one produced from sheer exhaustion. The first thing she was aware of as she struggled into consciousness was the fact that they'd stopped. As her eyes cleared she noticed that they were in a very small grove that had a stream forming one of its borders, and a very large rock face forming another. The remaining sides were formed by the tall pines of the forest. Grass made up the inside of the grove, or at least the majority of it she thought. There wasn't much moonlight to see by. Which is both a blessing and a hindrance, Kate thought. They can't see our tracks, but we can't see where we're going. Well, maybe she and the girl couldn't, but that _horse_ probably could, she thought nervously. Now that she was completely awake, the feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach had returned full force. It's the same horse, I know it, she thought. But _how _can it be here? _Why _was it here? She had this premonition that _nothing _good would come of this horse being here. The girl's voice interrupted her train of thought.

"I think this as good a place as any. Would you mind starting the fire? I need take care of Chase." Kate frowned at this. A fire? she thought, is that really a good idea? The girl who must have been thinking along the same lines, quickly said, "Don't worry. Just make sure not too use any wet wood, and there won't be any smoke. Also be sure to break the pieces of wood into sections about three or four inches long, and add them slowly to the fire once you get it going." Kate was still a little leery about a making a fire, but the girl sounded experienced. I wish I had paid a bit more attention to the camping part of the trips I took with my dad, Kate thought wistfully. I remember all about tracking, but that isn't going to do me much good when I'm the one _being_ tracked.

"Sure," Kate said with a faint smile. The girl grinned back at her, and handed her a book of matches. Kate swung down from the horse's back, and immediately regretted that action. Pain shot through her legs, through her butt, and up into her back, and then radiated back downward. She winced and thought, so much for being in shape, you haven't used these muscles in _years_. She cautiously took a step forward, and was met by the pain from her swollen ankle and her protesting muscles. Ouch, she thought, and this is going to be even worse tomorrow. "You okay?" she heard from behind her. "Yeah, just a bit stiff," she said back, lying through her teeth. Just a _bit _stiff? she asked herself. More like she'd jumped out of an airplane without a parachute and somehow managed to survive it she thought, gritting her teeth in pain.

When she was finally able to walk, though it was more of a limp, she gathered a bunch of small rocks, forming a circle in the dirt in close vicinity to the rock face. It'd be a good thing to sleep against, she thought. That way they wouldn't have to watch their backs all night. Before she went and collected the wood for the fire she walked over to the flowing stream, and cupped her hands together, dipping them into the water. Kate raised her hands to her face, taking a sip, then glanced across the clearing to where the girl was unsaddling the horse. She can't be more than sixteen or seventeen, Kate thought. I wonder what the hell she could have done that would have had her running from the cops. Kate was suddenly struck with the sensation that she should be worried about being around her; she didn't even know _what_ the girl had done. She shoved this thought aside. What she did can't be worse than what I did, she thought miserably. The girl seemed so innocent, not like her, not like someone who'd committed murder. Kate shook herself out of her reverie to find the stallion staring at her. That all-judging and all-knowing stare that he'd done earlier. Kate shuddered, and quickly looked away, turning towards the woods to find some branches for the fire.

After amassing all the wood needed for a fire, and breaking it into small pieces, she was pleasantly surprised to find out that the girl was right; it made a smokeless fire. With the fire burning she was even warmer, but it made a sharp contrast to the fact that she was still hungry. The trail mix was long gone, and she wanted some _real _food. A shadow fell across the other side of the fire, and Kate looked up to see the girl walking towards her with a very small pot and a ball of cloth. What was the cloth for? Kate thought. She watched attentively as the girl opened up the ball of cloth to see that it was filled with dried up noodles, vegetables and spices. The girl then dumped the mix into the pot. Kate was slightly confused. Maybe with a bit more sleep and food she would have gotten it, but as it were, she couldn't grasp what the girl was doing. The girl walked over to the stream and filled the pot up partially with water. She turned and walked back to the fire, setting the pot down onto one of the rocks surrounding the fire. Oh! Kate thought. Soup! Echoing Kate's thoughts, the girl said with a smile, "I hope you like soup." She sat down in front of the fire opposite from Kate and said, "I'm Aly, by the way." Kate didn't even have to think, the lie rolled off her tongue as easily as they always had. Kate smiled sweetly and said, "I'm Mandy."

The girl glanced down at the ground for a second, and then looked back up at Kate with a skeptical smile etched on her face. "You wanna try that again?"


	4. Chapter 4: Trust & Honesty are Hard

Okay, here's Chapter 4. Sorry, I'm posting it a little later than I'd wanted too, but I didn't even have a chance to get online for the better part of the week. Next chapter starts when my writing improved (or at least I think) so from Ch. 5 on it gets better (and longer). Any reviews are welcome!!! )

**Chapter 4**_Trust & Honesty Are Hard Things To Come By_

"You wanna try that again?" Oh god, she doesn't know who I am, does she? Kate thought. Her pulse pounded in her ears, and she silently struggled to calm her racing heart. Kate looked at the girl, keeping all traces of her looming panic hidden from her face, but the girl didn't look like she recognized her. You can't be positive though, Kate thought to herself.

"What do you mean?" Kate asked the girl, trying to sound impassive. The girl eyed her thoughtfully, but instead of answering immediately, she reached forward to stir the pot of soup. She stirred it slowly for about a minute and placed back by the flames again before returning her gaze back to Kate's face. Anxiously, Kate was already planning her route of escape, if it turned out the girl knew her identity. I'll head east, she thought, away from the mountains, away from the police, and away from the girl, and _that_ horse.

The girl spoke again. "Oh, it's nothing really. Just a _speck_ of honesty would be nice, all things considering." She stared into Kate's eyes with an intensity that instantly reminded her of the omniscient glances she'd received from the horse. The girl raised her eyebrows, waiting for a response. Should I tell her? Kate wondered. But old habits die hard.

"I really don't know what you're talking about. My name's Amanda, Mandy for short," Kate said finally, trying to sound confused by the girl's question, not nervous like she was truly feeling. But the girl continued to look at her over the flames with an expression that said that she knew Kate was lying. Kate was starting to feel a bit cornered, like she was being herded into a trap like an animal, so she fought back with the only thing she had at the moment.

"And how do I know your name is even Aly?" Kate asked, trying to turn the tables. The girl looked amused by this, and quickly retorted, "You don't." She then stood up, and walked away from the fire, disappearing into the shadows surrounding the ring of light that came from the bright, dancing flames that flickered in their jail of stones. Kate strained her eyes, trying to see where she'd gone. Is she leaving? Kate thought in a panic. Just as Kate was wondering whether she should try to follow the girl or not, the girl (Aly, she _said_ her name was Aly, Kate thought. Might as well call her that, it beats calling her "the girl") materialized out of the shadows holding a bowl and another spoon.

"Soup's ready," Aly said as she sat back down again on the opposite side of the fire from Kate. Other than that, she was silent, for which Kate was thankful. Aly handed her the bowl filled with soup along with the spoon, and then quickly returned her attention to her own meal which she ate out of the pot. This soup is excellent, Kate thought, or maybe I'm just really hungry. She smiled, probably both. She continued to spoon mouthfuls of soup into her mouth, glancing across the fire at Aly occasionally, trying to read her the expression on her face. But Aly's face was devoid of all emotions. Completely apathetic. How is she not scared, or at least wary of me, Kate asked herself. She doesn't even seem worried about what I could do. But she doesn't know, she couldn't know what I'm capable of, Kate thought. She would've never helped me if she knew what I am. If she knew I was a murderer.

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Aly sensed the glances "Mandy" cast in her direction as she slowly ate her share of the soup. She didn't have to look up, she just knew the woman was studying her from across the campfire. She thinks I'm lying about my name, she thought, silently laughing. It's amazing how some people can't, no refuse, to believe or even speak the truth. She knew the woman wouldn't give her her true identity, and for that same reason she gave the woman her real one. She'll never think, or believe, that I gave her my real name, she thought. But during this time she steeled herself to keep all emotions from showing on her face. Let her wonder what the sixteen year old girl could have done that would have her running from the cops, she thought. Maybe she'll be a bit more open. Probably not, though.

Aly promptly stood up, stretching out the muscles in her legs before gathering up the dirtied dishes and taking them over to the stream to wash them thoroughly. "Do you want any help?" Aly heard the woman say from behind her. "No, I just need to wash these off real quick before I put back in the saddle bags," she responded back. She really didn't need any help; she'd been doing this on her own for a long time now. Just her and Chase. In fact she'd avoided civilization all together unless she had to restock on supplies, which she didn't do too often. Aly had learned to ration out her food a lot longer than was healthy for her body, but she'd gotten used to it after a while. It's safer that way, Aly thought as she walked over to the stream. Less of a chance of someone recognizing me, and turning me in.

Rinsing and drying the dishes hardly took any time at all, but Aly didn't move from her spot on the rock bordering the stream. She glanced skyward, and looked up at the scatterings of stars across the night sky. It seems so peaceful, she thought. But she quickly brought herself back down to reality. The reality that she and Chase along with a fellow fugitive from the law were being tracked, probably at this exact moment, by the police. She knew they could outdistance them, she just hoped that Chase could take the strain of carrying double along with outrunning the police. She wouldn't ride her horse until he dropped dead from exhaustion. If worst comes to worst I'll ditch that woman somewhere, Aly thought. Sure, she'd feel horrible, but if it saved Chase it would be worth the guilt.

Just thinking about doing that made her have pangs of guilt. Aly glanced over her shoulder at the woman to study her since the shadows from the tall pines overhead hide her from view. She couldn't really see "Mandy" that clearly; there wasn't enough light from the campfire and moonlight to study her closely, but what Aly could see was that the woman was starting to nod off as she sat by the fire. Looks like that nap she took on the ride here wasn't enough, Aly thought, giggling silently. She dug around in one of her pockets of her camouflage pants until she found her compass with a built in watch. 2315, so it's 11:15 pm, Aly calculated. It had been about 1 o'clock in the afternoon when she'd picked up Kate, so they'd been on the run for over nine hours. No wonder Chase and the woman were exhausted. Aly wasn't particularly tired, but she'd will herself to sleep later because she'd need the energy it would give her.

Time for some sleep, Aly thought, and walked over to where Chase was grazing. She stuffed the pot, bowl, and spoons into one of the saddle bags attached the saddle which she had laid up against a tree close to where Chase stood. She rummaged through a different saddle bag for a long-sleeved shirt since she had let Mandy borrow her jacket. It wasn't very cold during the summer here, but at night the temperatures dropped enough for one to get slightly chilled if they didn't have adequate clothing. Doubling up on shirts ought to do it for now, Aly thought told Chase good night and rubbed him on his favorite spot, right behind his left ear. He stretched his neck and wiggled his lips in pleasure as she itched it harder. "You're so silly," Aly whispered to him, and with one last pat she walked back towards the campfire.

The woman jumped when Aly suddenly manifested out of the shadows. Aly had to choke back a laugh. She sure must be tired, Aly thought again. She's pretty jumpy. "I think it's best we get some sleep," Aly told her. The woman nodded in agreement, and slowly stood up from her seat by the fire. She turned around, and walked back towards the rock-face they'd made camp against, sitting down with her back pressing into the rock. Aly dealt with the fire, making sure it would burn low, but still produce heat to keep them warm during the night. "Don't you think we should keep watch, take shifts maybe?" Aly heard the woman ask. "No, it's fine. We both can sleep; Chase'll keep watch," she said back as she walked over to the rock-face and sat beside "Mandy". The look on the woman's face clearly said that she didn't exactly think a horse made a good sentry. "Don't worry, he'll warn us if something even comes near this clearing," Aly said, trying to comfort her. The woman nodded slowly in reluctance, but Aly knew that wasn't all. She wants to say something else, Aly thought. I'll let her take her time.

"How do you know you can trust me?" the woman blurted out. Aly smiled faintly, but responded immediately. "I don't. How do you know you can trust _me_?" With that Aly laid down on her side, and curled up in a ball, waiting for sleep to come. She heard "Mandy" do the same thing next to her, and the last thing she heard before she succumbed to sleep was Chase cropping at the grass, and the gurgle of the stream nearby.


	5. Chapter 5: Best Criminals Ever Seen

Thanks Katie for being my reviewer on this forum! ) Here's Ch. 5. It's the first chapter for this fic that I'm actually kinda proud of. It's better written I think and much MUCH longer than the previous ones. And most of my chapters from this point on are going to be long. So yeah, please read and review!

**Chapter 5**_Best Criminal(s) Ever Seen_

She was running through a field of wildflowers. It was an endless sea of blood red and flame orange petals as far as the eye could see. So she kept running, trying to find an end, an escape from the colors that taunted her mind. Or _was _that why she was running? Was she being chased? She froze in place, listening, waiting for something to betray its presence. But she didn't dare look back to see if she was being hunted. She heard nothing, not the footfalls of a hunter, nor the rippling of the flowers and grasses as a breeze blew through the field. It was absolutely and eerily quiet. The silence around her was closing in, enveloping her, threatening to suffocate her. She began running again, she had to free herself from this, this _hell. Her own personal hell_. She nearly screamed at this revelation, but swiftly cut it off before it left her throat.That was when see could hear it, the hoofbeats, the staccato rhythm in which they fell. Fear seized her, making her breath run ragged, as she continued running. The hoofbeats resounded in her ears, never letting up, never stopping the infernal fear they forced upon her. Fear coupled with her grueling pace was trying her endurance. Her movements were slowing, each step forward was growing harder to accomplish. The hoofbeats slackened their pace as well, tormenting her already battered mind. With one last step forward she staggered and fell to her knees. She shook her forelock out of her eyes and heaved herself back up, preparing to start her endless run. Wait, _forelock_? In alarm she looked down at her legs. She stared at them in disbelief. They were jet black, glistening in the sunlight, slenderly built, ending in unshod hooves. She opened her mouth to scream, but it came out as a high-pitched whinny that reverberated across the never-ending field of blood red and flame orange wildflowers.

Kate woke with a scream, and immediately reached for the back of her pants to grab the gun that wasn't there. She sat up and grabbed the nearest thing she could find, a fist-sized rock which she held in her hand, ready to launch it at her assailant. But there was no one in sight. The remains of a campfire were directly in front of her, the babbling of a brook could be heard to her right past some tall pines. She shook her head to clear away the remnants of her dream. No,_ nightmare,_ she thought. She glanced to her left, and saw nothing, just the empty earth where someone had slept. Someone she'd been traveling with... Aly! her mind screamed. Where was she?! Kate scrambled to her feet in a full on panic. Waves of intense pain radiated from her left ankle, and it collapsed underneath the full weight of her body. Kate landed face first in the dirt, not having had enough time to put her hands out in front of her to catch herself. Probably best I didn't do that anyways, Kate thought. With my luck I would've snapped my wrists. She dragged herself into a sitting position, resting before attempting to stand again. She decided to risk a look at her ankle and carefully lifted her pant leg up. It was a motley assortment of colors. It looks like a freakin' rainbow, Kate thought as she gazed at the swirling patterns of the bruises covering her ankle. Shades of green, black, blue, purple, and even red and pink decorated the large area of swelling. She was pretty sure it wasn't broken, just sprained very badly. Hopefully, she thought.

Well, I had better get moving, Kate thought. The police will probably be starting to search for me again since it's getting light enough to see by. Dawn was breaking across the tops of the trees on the far side of the clearing. Rays of light fell through the branches of the trees, casting the entire meadow in a ethereal glow. A glow that turned into a beacon of radiating light when it washed over the equine standing motionless in the center of the field ringed by trees. The stallion gleamed from the tip of his muzzle to the waves of his cascading obsidian tail. When he saw that he had Kate's attention he tossed his head, and reared up on his hindquarters, pawing the air with his hooves, sending his mane into the air like the mast of a ship being unfurled into the wind. He came back down, prancing lightly on his hooves, looking as elegant and lithe as a dancer. The stallion then turned away from her, stopping and glancing back her, a challenge in his eyes. Kate swallowed, and contemplated running, running _far_ way from this horse that was clearly taunting her. Wait, Kate thought. Aly wouldn't have left her horse behind if she'd ditched her. But where is she then? She looked around the clearing until she spotted the stallion's saddle. The stallion watched her suspiciously as she limped over to it, but there wasn't a note of any kind with it. Kate was starting to get worried, on top of being nervous about the horse. Maybe she's near the stream and I just missed her? Kate thought as she began hobbling over towards the stream. As she made her way past the ashes of the campfire she noticed something scratched in the dirt. Kate changed her course and made her way over to where something was etched in the dirt. It read "Gone to scout backtrail. Be back by 6:30." A compass with a built-in watch and an energy bar lay in the dirt right beside the message. The time said 6:20. Kate breathed a sigh of relief as she reached down and picked up the compass and energy bar. Using a small pine branch she erased all signs of the message, and then continued over to the stream where she had a drink of water, and settled down on a rock to eat her breakfast, hoping that Aly didn't get caught while she was on this "scouting mission".

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Scout the backtrail. Aly laughed quietly as she scratched the message for "Mandy" in the dirt next to the remains of the fire. She grinned to herself, this was going to be _fun_. She glanced at her compass watch, the time read 3:20. That gave her about three and a half hours to set up everything she needed to, and still make it back in time to tack up Chase and start their journey northward with a companion in tow. Guided by the moonlight she walked cautiously over to the meadow, searching for the place she'd put the saddle. Something dark loomed up on her left, she spun ready to defend herself, but when it nickered she relaxed. Chase, she thought. The stallion blew his breath softly on her hand, and she obliged, rubbing his forehead with her hand. Aly smiled faintly, but driven by urgency, she abruptly stopped and continued to look for the saddle. She could hear Chase trailing after her in the darkness, always a step or two behind, always watching her back. Suddenly she stumbled over something large and bulky. The saddle. Aly muttered an oath as she picked herself up off the ground, and bent over to search the saddle bags. She grabbed two energy bars out of the food bag and tucked them into a pant pocket. Aly then took out a couple of pieces of baling twine, and the pair of night vision goggles she'd pilfered from a group of recreational "hunters" who really shouldn't have even been allowed _near _guns, let alone wield and shoot them.

Having found all that she needed Aly zipped up the saddle bags and stood up straight. She walked over to Chase and whispered in his ear to guard. The stallion dipped his head in acknowledgment, and pivoted around to where he could watch "Mandy". Satisfied, Aly started to walk back to where they'd come from, but with a second thought she turned back towards camp. She went back to where her message was scratched in the dirt, and placed an energy bar next to it. Maybe I ought to leave the compass here, Aly thought. She won't know what time 6:30 is if she doesn't have the time of day, but then again, neither will I. Against her better judgment, Aly left the compass watch lying on the ground next the message along with the energy bar. With one last glance to make sure "Mandy" was still asleep, Aly left the camp, and eventually the clearing at a jog. She strapped the night vison goggles on her head, making it almost as clear as daylight to see by.

Aly judged she'd been running for about an hour. Good, she thought. This is far enough. She then set herself to her tasks. In an east-west line (or what she hoped was east-west) she began setting traps. Aly rigged traps of baling twine so branches would fall on unsuspecting people from above. She dug very shallow holes and covered them with branches, then leaves, then dirt so their locations were unbeknownst to those walking along the forest floor, but making sure only the weight of a human would trigger them, not an animal's. And all along she never covered her tracks. But that was no matter because all the police would see when they actually looked for them was that the tracks danced about in circles, never ending, never going in a straight line, never stopping.

She'd been working for about an hour when she realized that she'd have to finish up shortly. Aly had been enjoying herself, scurrying among the trees, setting traps for those who were stupid enough to try follow their trail. She starting jogging up an incline from a meadow her, Chase, and "Mandy" had crossed last night when she heard the sound of running water to her right. Huh, she thought. I must've been to focused on finding a place to stop for the night that I didn't hear it. Aly veered off the right, and found herself at a stream the flowed down the incline parallel to the meadow. Then Aly remembered. This must be the same stream I crossed on the south side of the clearing, she thought. Then an idea popped into her head. Aly grinned and started digging a furrow in the earth with her bare hands, leading the trench to where she had exited the meadow. She quickly went back to where she had started the furrow, and this time went in the other direction, towards the sound of running water. She finally reached the stream, and once Aly connected the channel to the stream water began flowing through it, diverting from the natural course of the stream. Not enough water flowing out of the stream though, Aly thought. Her eyes lighted up when she saw a good sized boulder near the side of the stream. After struggling for several minutes she managed to get the boulder right next to where she needed it. With one final shove, it fell into the stream, causing a dam that stretched halfway across the width of the stream. Water began gushing through Aly's channel when it collided with the rock, while the rest of the water continued its destined course. That meadow will be a swamp in a couple of hours, Aly thought with a grin. The cops would have fun trying to get through _that _mess if they tried to track Chase. But she'd already taken to much time, she needed to get back to camp. Aly decided against following Chase's tracks to get back to camp, that would be a bit obvious. So with a prayer, she began splashing through the stream upstream, hoping that this was the same stream the flowed past their camp too.

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Kate glanced at the compass watch again. 6:50, she's late, Kate thought. She looked back at the compass again; 6:55. She didn't get caught did she? How will I get anywhere if she did? I can barely walk! I'd have to ride the horse. Kate laughed at herself, the laugh having an edge of desperation to it. Ride the horse, yeah right! I'd rather walk on my sprained ankle! Reminded of the horse's presence, she glanced over to the meadow where the stallion stood, statue-still, watching her. Kate tried to hold her gaze with the stallion's eyes, but she lost the contest. She had to look away. The stallion, with an amused glitter in his eyes, continued to stare at her. The way he looked at her, it made her want to turn and run and never stop. Then she heard something splashing up the stream behind her. What the, Kate thought, whirling around. She turned around to see Aly make her way out of the stream and sit down on the rock that Kate herself had been sitting on a few minutes ago.

"Mornin'," Aly said as Kate recovered from the shock of having Aly pop up like that out of nowhere. Kate had millions of questions. Where were you? What were you doing? Why didn't you wake me up? Why'd you leave me the horse? But the words she finally uttered weren't a question, just a statement of fact. "You're late."

"I am? Sorry, but I left you the only watch so I could only guess what time it was," Aly said in response. Aly stood up, and Kate watched as she started walking towards the saddle. "We need to get a move on. I don't know how far they are behind us, and I'd really prefer not to have a surprise gathering," Aly said. Kate began to limp her way over to where the girl stood next to the saddle, waiting for both Kate and the horse to come to her. Needless to say, the horse made it there first. Aly smoothed the saddle pad on the stallion's back before swinging the saddle on his back. She leaned over, reached under the horse belly, grabbed the girth that lung limply off the saddle on the opposite side, and began tightening it to secure the saddle in its place. Having finished that, Kate watched as Aly picked up the stallion's bridle off the ground, and slipped it over his head. The stallion stood patiently as she did the throatlatch and noseband. Kate finally had reached her destination, but she hung back a couple of feet, not really wanting to get any closer to the horse of her past. She then worked up her courage to ask Aly the questions that were plaguing her thoughts.

"What time did you leave this morning?" Kate asked. Aly didn't even look up from what she was doing, she just answered, "3:30." 3:30? Kate thought. What the hell was she doing all that time? "So you just went scouting then? To see how far behind us they are? O r were you doing something else?" she inquired. A smile spread over Aly's face at these questions, but she still didn't look Kate in the face, she busied herself with checking the girth again. Then she simply answered, "No." Kate's curiosity was almost overwhelming her ability to think rationally. "No to what?! No, that you were doing something else?! Or no, that you were scouting?!" Kate said, nearly yelling.

"Don't worry, it won't cause any permanent damage," Aly said her eyes flickering with mischief as she met Kate's penetrating stare. Kate's stomach fell. What the hell is that supposed to mean? Kate thought growing worried. The worry must have shown on her face cause Aly spoke again. "Like I said, don't worry, it won't do any lasting damage. It'll just delay 'em a bit. Long enough for the trail to start to go cold, and for us to get even further away." Kate nodded skeptically, slowly, trying to take this all in. She was a little doubtful, and kinda worried. What did she do? she thought. Aly must have still sensed her remaining worries because she threw her arms around Kate in a quick hug, and said, "I promise, it's fine." then turned back towards the horse and swung up into the saddle. Kate stood frozen in shock. Did she just _hug _me?

"Come on, swing up," Aly said reining the horse around so the stirrup dangled in front of her face. An intense feeling of deja vu washed over Kate. It was exactly like yesterday. Kate standing on the ground, debating whether she really wanted to swing up or not. Of course, the moment wouldn't be complete without the horse glaring at her. Yep! There we go, she thought as the stallion turned his head to eye her. And her decision was still the same. She gently stuck her left foot into the stirrup, and swung up behind Aly, wondering how she'd run into this horse again.

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Lieutenant Tyler Norwood sighed loudly as he heard the yelps of some of his fellow police officers a couple hundred feet to his right. Another trap? he thought. How many did this girl set? When did she have the _time _to set them? He was holding a piece of ripped cloth to his forehead where it had been gashed by a falling branch. He'd been victim to three traps thus far, the first being when he got his cut. So naturally, he and all his men had kept their eyes on the _trees, _expecting more attacks to come from above. Wrong. Very, very wrong. During their frequent glances upward, they failed to see the patch of earth that just wasn't quite like the rest. He wasn't hurt by this trap, unfortunately some of his officers didn't fair so well. Two had sprained ankles, others sprained wrists from trying to catch themselves as they fell. He definitely had not signed up for this when Captain William O'Dell had handed over the reins of this operation last night. The Captain had told him that he didn't have the energy to go haring after Kate Austen, and that he, Tyler Norwood, should take it over from here. So, eager to please, and hoping to get the Captain's position when he retired, he agreed. But nothing in any of Kate Austen's files had said anything about her ever, in any of the police chases focused around her, setting traps. His thoughts were interrupted by someone clearing their throat to his direct left.

"Umm...Sir? How do you want to proceed?" asked the newly promoted Sergeant. Tyler ignored him. He had no idea how the man had been promoted to Sergeant. He could barely shoot the target, let alone the bulls' eye at the shooting range, as exhibited by his earlier attempt to shoot the fugitive in the leg. Damn near got her in the head, he thought. He glanced out of the corner of his eye at the Sergeant who had the beginnings of a beer belly that threatened to explode out of the tight hold his belt had on it. And he eats _way _to many doughnuts, Tyler thought with disgust.

"Lieutenant!...We found a trail!...Through a meadow!...It's up ahead...a couple hundred feet!" one of the newer recruits managed to gasp out between breathes as he nearly collapsed at Tyler's feet. Tyler was a bit suspicious of this meadow. Probably booby-trapped.

"Did you see where it went?" he asked. The officer shook his head no, and said that they were waiting for him. Tyler nodded and called out for some of surrounding officers to follow him and the messenger boy. They had to hop a stream to get to their destination, but it wasn't very wide. Looked like it was only half the water it normally held. After a couple of yards, Tyler and the officers following him broke through the treeline to stand next to the group of officers that had found the trail. And Tyler could see it very clearly, the grass was bent in a straight line across the field. He grinned, thinking, finally! A real trail! He told his men to follow his lead, and started to march through the grass.

Since they'd abandoned the cover of the trees Tyler figured the danger of traps was nonexistent. There were no trees to hide traps in, and they'd see if the ground was dug up because the grass would've been disturbed. So they continued there way through the field. Tyler noticed the ground was starting to get slightly squishy under his boots, but he didn't pay it any mind, until he and his men were up to their knees in muck. This is just bloody great, Tyler thought. Just bloody fckin' great! Eventually some of the officers who stayed to search the woods heard their cries for help, and pulled them out, but not before three officers had gotten stuck in the muck.

"That's gotta be the best criminal I've ever seen," Tyler heard from beside him. It was the new recruit who'd told them about the meadow. He sighed, "So it would seem."

This line belongs to the writer(s) of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, I merely tweaked it for use in my fic.


	6. Chapter 6: Run From The Past

Alright my patient (hopefully) readers and reviewers, here's Chapter 6. I'm sorry that I haven't updated in quite a long time; I've had severe writer's block and not enough time to write so I decided to just post one of the chapters I already have done (I have up to Ch. 7 or 8 posted on another forum), but I got a new reviewer so that made me pretty happy so...yeah.

**Katie:** Thanks, so much for reviewing every chapter. It makes me very happy...and I'm horribly sorry I haven't gotten the chance to review Amanda's Summer. I promise I will the first chance I get. And yes eventually a friendship will form between Aly & Kate. But you'll see.

**an-liesje:** I hope you're still reading!

**KShadow:** Thanks for reviewing...or rather telling me to update. I needed that. :)

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**Chapter 6 **_Run From The Past_

_Six days, 15 half-ration meals, and three lost tempers later..._

"So are you going to tell me why we are laying here?" Aly bit back the urge to throttle the woman next to her. I am _cold_, _tired_, _hungry_, and if she says _one_ more word I am going to strangle her, Aly thought, the last of her usually endless patience gone like it had hurtled out a fifteen-story window and splattered onto the unforgiving asphalt below to be run over by an eighteen wheeler semi-truck during a storm that poured down buckets of icy, cold rain. That then got struck by lightning. Gone. Diminished. Shattered. Nonexistent. Vanished into thin air. Completely, and utterly _gone._

Aly took a long, drawn out breath in an attempt to calm herself. She regained control. Somewhat. Every moment she spend in this woman's company without food, dry clothes, and sleep was rubbing every one of her nerves the wrong way. It made her want to punch something. Hard. Preferably the woman laying less than three feet away to her right. Even though she wanted to resort to that she wouldn't, she plainly didn't have the energy to spare. She hardly had the energy at all. She hadn't slept at all since she and Chase had picked up their fellow fugitive seven days ago, barring that first night, but that sleep hadn't been restful. Nearly a week without an ounce of sleep. Rescuing "Mandy" had evoked a memory she'd rather not have remembered. Or rather _seeing_ "Mandy" evoked the memory. She could control her thoughts during the day; they were suppressed to the farthest reaches of her mind where they didn't bother her, but the night, sleeping, unleashed the dreams. Dreams that were horrifyingly realistic, and for good reason. They'd happened. She knew why exactly why they were occurring again, but there was absolutely nothing she could do about them except avoid them. It wasn't like she could abandon the woman now while she could barely walk, let alone run. The police would catch her within a day or less. And this just made her want to punch the woman all the harder. It had been fine until they'd run out of food. After they ran out of food Aly's rein on her normally nonexistent temper had been getting increasingly looser. It was getting harder and harder not to loose it. But now "Mandy" was _talking._

Today was the most "Mandy" had spoken in days; before she'd never spoke unless asked a direct question, and even then her responses were either monosyllabic answers or a shrug of her shoulders. Where are we? Where's the next town? Will we stop there? had been the questions she pestered Aly with today. Before, her expression had always been guarded, always hiding something, except when she thought she was alone with Chase. Then and only then did expression show on her face. Fear. She was plainly afraid and nervous to be left alone with Chase, though Aly couldn't fathom why. Chase only watched her harmlessly from a distance; hardly threatening or frightening. Maybe she had a bad experience with horses? Aly mused. But it almost seems like she _recognizes _him. She quickly banished the thought. That was treading on dangerous territory, and she sincerely hoped that the woman didn't know him. She would do anything to protect her and Chase's freedom, not when they'd gotten this far. Aly shook her head. Save that for later, Aly said to herself grimly. I'm probably just overreacting. Guess I better answer her though. Summoning up her reserves of control she prepared to answer the irritating question.

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Kate was laying on her stomach flat out in the grass on a hill overlooking a town nestled in the valley that stretched out below them. Waiting for Aly to answer her. But she didn't want to wait. She was tired, but more importantly starving, and there was food cooking less than a quarter mile away from her. It was only sheer will-power (and her bum ankle) that kept her from leaping into a run and sprinting towards the nearest food source. Hell, she'd even eat a big, fat, juicy steak at this point. She was _that _hungry. They hadn't eaten in over a day. _Four_ skipped meals. And the all the other meals had been at half-rations which made for an unhappy stomach. _Apparently_ her counterpart hadn't had the time to restock in Darbiton which had left them with about four or five days worth of food for one person. Yeah, definitely not happy stomachs. Or happy people for that matter.

But Kate could've handled the hunger pains, if it hadn't been for that for the past five days it had been pouring down rain every morning and afternoon, leaving them cold, wet, and unable to dry out the few sets of clothes Aly possessed. Plus the police continued to track them through these miserable conditions so they'd had to travel on through the rains, not even stopping to seek shelter from the storms. They carried on past dusk and sundown, and rose at dawn or earlier each morning, with Aly always sneaking back into camp right before they had to pack up and leave. Kate has stopped asking about what the girl was doing. It was probably better off she didn't know what went on while she slept. Not that her sleep was restful. It was plagued by bad dreams, all variations of that first nightmare, sometimes flames sprouting up in the meadow threatening to burn everything into oblivion, sometimes droplets of blood red raining down from the sky making the meadow a blood-bath. The dreams always ended with her falling as she ran, then screaming at her discovery. And she'd _always _wake up to find that horse staring at her. _Always._ But any amount of sleep she got was far more than what Aly got. Kate didn't know what time the girl got up to "scout the backtrail", but it was very early. And it was showing. The girl laying in the tall grass next to her was a wraith of herself compared to what she'd been when they met the first day. She was far to thin, and her eyes were ringed with black, and her once sun-tanned complexion was growing increasingly paler which caused a bridge of freckles to appear over her nose and cheeks. It was a wonder she could function at all.

"We're laying here because I'm waiting for that cop's shift to end so I can get into town to get us food...and clothes," Aly said, keeping her voice low, despite the fact that they were alone in this part of Pike National Forest. Cop? What cop? Kate thought. She must've thought out loud since Aly responded immediately, "You see that roly-poly guy munching to his heart's content on glazed doughnuts underneath that little overhang right near the entrance to the main street? That's a cop." Kate squinted, and she could see a rather chubby man stuffing his face with something, but he was a bit to far away to see anything clearly. But certainly didn't look like the man was outfitted in a police uniform. She turned her gaze over to Aly. How in hell can she see that? Kate wondered. Or am I just going blind? Her face apparently mirrored her thoughts, and Aly answered her perplexed expression with a simple "I have really good eye-sight." Kate looked at her in disbelief. Aly smiled, "Either that or I'm so hungry that I'm hallucinating and imagining that fat, greasy man eating a whole box of doughnuts. Glazed with vanilla icing and rainbow sprinkles. Which I truly hope isn't the case. That might mean I'm delirious. Which could be a problem. And I probably ought to shut up before do you think I've gone off the deep end." Too late for that, Kate thought, trying not to laugh out loud.

Ignoring the obvious question of how Aly knew the rather rotund man was a cop, Kate asked how long until the shift probably ended. She'd learned that Aly knew a lot of things that the average teenager didn't. She'd also learned not to ask questions sometimes. "I'm not sure, but I think he's probably going to take a lunch break. More than likely early since he seems to have gone through those doughnuts pretty fast. There's probably going to be a lapse of time between when that cop leaves and the next comes. Then it's time to move," Aly answered, her eyes glued ahead, watching the man like a hawk.

"So once that cop leaves we go into town, and go where?" Kate inquired. Aly looked over at Kate. "First, _we_ are not going anywhere. I am going into town by myself, and you are staying here with Chase in case something goes wrong and we have to book it outta here. And second, you don't need to and shouldn't know where I'm going. It's safer that way." Kate at first, was speechless. Then with all the maturity of a six-year old, she protested, "Why do you get to go into town and not me?!" Aly looked as though she was trying to hold back laughter. Either that or the urge to throttle her for whining; Kate couldn't really decide, though she hoped it wasn't the latter.

Aly sighed, sounding as if she really was dealing with a whiny child who wasn't getting what she wanted. "And how exactly do you plan on running if the cops notice us? In case you hadn't noticed, your ankle looks like a rainbow sherbert exploded on it and it's twice the size of Chase's hoof. Unless you planned on riding Chase into town, which I must say is not very inconspicuous, there's no way you can walk. You'd probably break your ankle trying to walk down this hill into town, anyways." As much as Kate hated to admit it she was right. Boy, did she hate to admit it. In fact she didn't admit it. She didn't surrender to Aly's reason either. She, instead, tried another tactic to change Aly's mind on this issue.

"How do you know I won't ride off with Chase and leave you behind?" Kate threw back, with a challenging look in her green eyes. Inside though, she was a bit nervous. That was the first time she'd ever addressed the horse as Chase. She'd always called the horse or _that _horse. She also felt a little freer too, like naming her fear helped to vanquish it. She looked back to where the black stallion was standing guard beneath the cover of the forest. The stallion caught her gaze and immediately the fear that had gone came back with a vengeance. So much for getting over it, Kate thought, turning her gaze back to Aly's face which appeared to be torn between amusement and disbelief. The laughter won over. Aly began laughing uncontrollably. Kate, however, failed to see what the hell was so funny. "What?! Why are you laughing?" Kate asked in indignation.

Aly still continued to laugh, harder now, tears leaking out of her eyes now. Slowly, she regained composure. "I'm sorry, but that's funny. You honestly think you could just ride off with Chase, and leave me here?" This wasn't quite the outcome Kate had expected. I thought she'd be nervous enough to let me come if I said that, Kate thought, slightly confused. "Chase would never let you do that, fyi," Aly said still restraining laughter.

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Chase, always in good spirits, was in a foul mood. He_ hated_ being wet for extended periods of time, and that was exactly what he was; soaked to the bone and slightly chilled due to the drop in temperature after the most recent storm. He also hadn't had decent fodder in days, and he was starting to show it. His ribs were grew more pronounced with each new day, but he knew they were all worse for wear. But the knowledge that he wasn't alone in this didn't help his mood. He was inclined to snap his teeth at anyone and anything that annoyed him in the slightest bit (i.e. Kate when his mistress, Aly, wasn't looking his way, or any animal that happened to cross his path [mainly squirrels, rabbits, and other unidentifiable rodents of unknown origins and breeding). Despite his annoyance at the world, he was worried about Aly and Kate, but more so about Aly. She hadn't grazed enough, nor slept enough, and she was getting thin. Very thin. And he always had to keep a watchful eye Kate. She had an inclination to run off at random moments like a wayward foal. Like right now. Chase could tell she was itching to run. Luckily she was lame in her left fetlock she couldn't gallop off very far or very fast. Still he'd watch her very closely from the cover of trees while she laid in the grass next to Aly. But all this guarding was tiring.

All he wanted was a warm, sheltered place where he and his humans could get some rest and good food. Preferably a nice, roomy box stall knee-deep in shavings or straw where he could lay flat out and sleep. With a big bucket in the corner that he could eat his fill of grain out of. He'd be more than willing to share the stall, but he knew his human's tastes ran slightly different than his. Chase blew through his nostrils, the equine version of a sigh. Humans are so complicated, they ought to try and be more simple. He also knew that he wouldn't be in that nice roomy box stall of his dreams anytime soon. And to make matters worse, his humans were arguing. Probably over something stupid and pointless too.

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Aly was still holding back the laughter that threatened to explode when she saw something change in the scene below them from the corner of her eye. Her head snapped back to face forward, looking down at the town below their vantage point. The cop was on the move towards the local diner. There wasn't another cop in sight. This conversation was _over_. She squirmed backwards towards Chase, not wanting to stand and betray their presence. She could hear Kate a couple of feet behind her, trying to keep up. Once she passed the tree line she sprang up, and ran to where Chase was standing with the tack. She swung the saddle pad, followed by the saddle up on his back, and quickly cinched up the girth with a wince of guilt when she noted how much his ribs stuck out. Don't worry bud, we'll get some rest and food tonight, she thought. Hopefully.

"Do not try to go anywhere, or else I will have Chase drag you back by the scruff of your shirt," Aly said as she dug through the saddle bags, grabbing a pair of (wet) jeans which she went behind a tree to change into, the leftover $50 she had from starting a bunch of colts for trainer back in Kansas, and assorted pieces of weaponry. Nothing drastic; she didn't have a gun nor did she really want one. She grabbed a slingshot out, and another knife to add to the two she always carried on her. One knife was in a quick release sheath on her right forearm, the other stuck down the side of her left hiking boot. She stuck the slingshot through one her belt loops and the third knife in the inside pocket of her army fatigue jacket which didn't do a lot of good of keeping her warm. It was damp, just starting to dry from the previous rainstorm. "You got that?" Aly questioned. She'd better not try to follow me, Aly thought. She's gonna get a_ rude _awakening.

"Loud and clear," the woman grumbled. Aly hoped this was the case, and turned back towards the town without a backward glance she slipped through the trees, disappearing into the shadows cast by the tall coniferous trees inhabiting Pike National Forest.

Aly was a master of hiding in plain sight. Once she'd put her hair up into a hat with the ends peeking out on all edges from the cap, she was just a short boy in his younger teens. A boy of average height for his age, a bit on the scrawny side, but it was hard to tell since his clothes were a bit baggy on him. People who passed her on the street figured that she was wearing hand-me-downs from an older brother perhaps, clothes that would be eventually grown into. She'd learned that it was much safer to pretend you were a boy. The men usually didn't harass her when she was disguised as a boy, something she was immensely thankful for. She'd had enough of that earlier in her life. She couldn't really figure out why though, she didn't think she was pretty at all. That's what he had always told her, and she believed him. Aly shuddered, she _really _did not want to think about him. Focus, you need to find an outdoor or army-navy surplus store, then food, Aly chided to herself.

She splashed through a puddle while crossing a street, sending up a spray of water, through which a rainbow glimmered, reminding Aly of "Mandy's" ankle. Now, with her train of thought on "Mandy", Aly wondered what her story was. Murderer? Con-artist? Thief? Druggie? Arsonist? What's she wanted for? Aly seriously doubted the woman was wanted for illicit drug usage or sales, though. She just didn't get that vibe from her. Otherwise, Aly had no idea. She wasn't worried; if "Mandy" had meant her any harm she would have done something already. She didn't seem dangerous; she was like Aly. Running from her past.

Aly was lost in her thoughts as she walked along the sidewalk when a group of people walking the opposite way bumped into her, sending her sprawling onto the cold, hard concrete. They didn't even stop to help her up, they just continued on, shoving others out of their way as they made their way down the street. What jerks, Aly thought as she picked herself up, bracing against a store front shop's window. As she glanced inside she noted that it must be the post office. There was a bustling line of people inside, some holding animated conversations, other waiting patiently, quietly for the line to move. Aly turned to start back walking towards the end of the street where she'd overheard an army-navy surplus store was located, but a paper taped to the inside of the post office window caught her eye. It had a blurb of writing at the top, and two photos at the bottom.

**WANTED:** Katherine "Kate" Austen

For 1st Degree Murder, Manslaughter, Assault, Armed Robbery, Insurance Fraud, & Arson

**DESCRIPTION:** 5'5", 118 lbs.

Green eyes, Fair complexion w/ freckles

Dark brown hair or light brown hair w/ blonde highlights

28 years old, D.O.B: 4/15/1976

It was the photos that made Aly's stomach drop. The first photo was of a familiarly pretty woman who had dark brown hair that feel in waves past her shoulders as she walked out of a store, her eyes covered by a pair of sunglasses. It was apparent the photograph was taken when the woman was unaware, she was looking into the distance, somewhere to the left of where the photographer was. The woman had a slender build, shown off by the jeans that hugged her hips, and the tank top that clung to every curve of her body. It was "Mandy". Absolutely, without a doubt, it was her. Murder, manslaughter, assault, bank robbery, insurance fraud, _and_ arson? Aly thought in bewilderment. She'd half expected _one _of those things, not all of them! "Mandy", no Kate didn't seem capable of those things. But you don't exactly seem capable of what you did so I guess that point is null, Aly thought. But it was the second photo that really worried her.

The second picture _wasn't _of Kate. Though it was almost impossible to tell the difference, and if hadn't been for that fact that the person in the second shot was wearing army fatigues Aly would've thought it was Kate with her hair dyed to a shade of light brown with natural blonde highlights. But the person _was _wearing army fatigues, and with a gulp Aly pried her eyes from the paper, and looked at the window, comparing her reflection to that of the second photo.


	7. Chapter 7: Mistaken Identity

I can't believe I haven't updated since January. I'm terribly sorry to all my readers. But the good news is, is that I have up to Ch. 10 written and have started Ch. 11. I hope all my previous readers are still with me, school got so hectic I could barely log onto .

**Katie: **Well, its not so much that Kate's annoying, its more that Aly's a wee bit grouchy because she hasn't eaten, or slept in a while. But more on that in later chapters. Agreed, I definitely wouldn't want Kate's dreams...or Aly's for that matter ;) And yes, you're going to begin to see what Aly's running from.

**an-liesje:** Thank you, hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter too.

**I'mAnOverachiever:** Thanks for reviewing, I'm glad you like it! )

**Chapter 7 **_Mistaken Identity_

There was a calm, rational corner of her mind that cooly noted that it had been many, many months since the last time she'd actually seen herself. That corner was in the minority. The rest was running in circles, screaming for her to obey her flight instinct and run. She was, for the most part, repressing that flight instinct that she'd acquired from a lifetime working around horses, and a good amount of time on the run. For the most part though; she couldn't control the nervous shaking of her hands as she clutched to the wanted paper like it was a lifeline, and she a person drowning in a raging sea. She gazed at the scrawny, pathetic excuse for a teenage girl with a haunted look in her eyes peering back at her in the mirror. She couldn't figure out what was scarier, the fact that she had been mistaken for a dangerous and highly wanted fugitive, or how much she'd changed.

_This _is exactly why I never looked at my reflection all this time, Aly thought as she managed to wretch her gaze away from her pale, drained, hardened image and back to the paper. She hardly remembered glancing over each shoulder to make sure the road was clear, and peeking inside the post office to insure that no one was watching before she ripped the wanted paper off the window pane, and began tearing down the nearest alleyway at a dead run. The narrow alley which reeked of stale beer, garbage, and things she'd rather not try to identify came out right next to gas station. It wasn't very hard to convince the gas station attendant that she needed to use the restroom; she probably looked like she was about to hurl. The guy practically threw the bathroom key at her. The _men's _bathroom key. Of _course _her disguise would work. Not wanting an intrusion, since it was a multiple stall and urinal restroom, she ended up dismantling part of the sink pipe under the counter using her two thinnest knives and a hair scrunchie. That metal pipe was now jammed against the door, bracing it so it couldn't be opened from the outside. Thus far it had deterred one person who had beat on the door for several minutes before giving up. That done she took the hat off, and let her hair fall down past her shoulders, which left her where she was now. Switching between staring at the paper and staring at her reflection.

"Well, this certainly complicates things," Aly muttered as the calm part of her brain began to win out over the instinctual. She was definitely going to have to be extremely careful in this town. Granted a small town like this with a little to nothing crime rate wouldn't really be worried about anything. They lived in their own little bubble, believing that nothing really bad would ever happen or come to their corner of the world, based solely on the fact that it hadn't happened yet. A stupid and naive way to think, but that was how it worked in small towns. That was how her hometown had been. She didn't even want to know what they thought now, after she'd fled the town and state. What she'd done had probably rocked the town and its people to the core.

Which now presented itself as the main problem. If she got caught, even if she somehow managed to convince them that she wasn't Kate Austen, then they'd soon enough figure out who she was and what she'd done and would end up going to jail anyhow. Of course that's if she could convince them she wasn't Kate, which was highly unlikely, judging on how they could be mistaken for identical twins despite their age difference. Then she'd be dragged off to jail, for crimes she hadn't committed, probably for life with a record like Kate's. Just freakin' peachy, Aly thought bitterly as she slowly folded the wanted paper into fourths, and then slid it into one of the inside pockets on her slowly drying jacket. Not that her record was a hell of a lot better, but it wasn't nearly as extensive.

Aly was then suddenly aware of where she was standing. A men's restroom that appeared and smelt like it hadn't been cleaned since before she was born. Her nose wrinkled in distaste as the odor assaulted her sense of smell. Ick, I need out of here pronto, Aly thought hurriedly, piling her hair on top of her head again then cramming the hat down over it to hold it in place. That done she grabbed the sink pipe from where it was bracing against the door ,and quickly inserted it back in place. There, can't even tell it was taken off, she thought as she walked out the bathroom and back to the counter to hand the gas station attendant the key.

"Thanks man," Aly said deepening her voice as much as she could, and the guy nodded in return, and went back to the crossword puzzle he had half completed. Now I have to find that army navy surplus store, Aly thought hoping it was close by so she could get out of this populated area soon. She was also hoping that she'd have enough money to get the supplies.

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Kate contemplated what would happen if she did try to run for it. Besides the obvious of her ankle giving out and probably spraining more than it already was. What would the horse do? Aly had said that he'd drag her back her by the scruff of her shirt, but Kate doubted it. The stallion didn't like her, so why it would it save her ass by dragging back to where she'd been told to wait? Because Aly had told him to? Just like she told him to stand guard at night while they slept?

The relationship between those two freaked her out. It was really creepy. She'd ridden horses when she was younger back in Iowa, and she'd always longed for a big black horse of her own, but her parents could never afford it. Look at that dream now, Kate thought, now it's my living nightmare. But none of the horses she'd ridden had ever acted Aly's Chase. Half the time she didn't know who was dictating the traveling plans; Chase or Aly. Plus he seemed to understand what was said, or at least simple terms or phrases. If she was lucky the horses she rode knew the commands walk, trot, canter, and whoa!, but Chase hardly needed cuing to perform stunts she'd only seen in movies. Either he was superbly well-trained or...She didn't know, but the horse wasn't normal. But she knew one thing, that horse was worth a _huge _chunk of cash with that sort of training. I wonder, Kate thought as she peeked back to where the stallion grazed on the sweet meadow grass about thirty feet away from her.

Had Aly _stolen _Chase? That would explain why she wouldn't allow him near town. If Chase was well-known then anyone current in the horse world with two eyes could see that he was worth a lot or recognize him if they' seen any pictures of him. Especially if his owners had sent out reports of him being stolen, which Kate was sure they would have. So that must be it then, she stole Chase. But something wasn't right. There was a missing piece to the puzzle. Aly didn't seem like the type of person who would just steal a horse just because it was pretty, and she wanted it. She could be wrong, but it seemed like there must be something else.

And as if the stallion could hear her thoughts, Chase caught Kate's gaze then dipped his head twice as if to agree that there was another part to the story, then lowered his head to continue grazing. A bit perturbed by that little incident Kate snapped her head back so it was facing down to the town, away from the horse. Still no sign of her, Kate thought growing worried, and annoyed. Damn was she hungry. And thirsty, but she wasn't about to go over and get the water canteen off the stallion's saddle. Thirst could wait. But not the hunger. The hunger could not wait. It had been over a day since she'd had her last bite of food. And there was food right there, right at the base of the hill. She had about four dollars in crinkled, damp ones, but that would get her something to eat. If she could just get down there without being stopped...

Kate glanced back at the stallion, judging how fast she'd have to get up, and start down the hill so he couldn't catch her. She figured if she managed to get a five second head start she'd probably be able to make it since he wouldn't be able to gallop headlong down the hill. She on the other hand could roll down the hill if worst came to worst. She worked her hands so they were on either side of her shoulders to use as leverage to push herself up with and start running. Hopping rather, since she couldn't afford for her ankle to give out on her during this crucial moment.

With a burst of energy Kate shoved herself to an upright position, and starting half running, half hopping towards the edge of the hill. The smell of food wafted to her nostrils, driving her already famished stomach crazy. She was just about start down the hillside when suddenly she was jolted to stop and her legs went flying out from under her as her torso was jerked backward away from the edge and out of view of the townspeople. Next thing Kate knew she was being dragged face first across the meadow. She tried to turn to slap away the teeth that gripped the back of her shirt, but each time she managed to make contact, the stallion would stop and shake her like a dog would do when "attacking" one of its toys.

How far is this damn horse going to drag me, Kate wondered as Chase continued to pull her along through the grass, now approaching the tree line.

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_Humans_, Chase thought as he drug a prime example of why he was currently annoyed with the species through the field of sweet tasting grass that he'd much rather be grazing on right now. But _no_, he had to keep watch over Kate like she was an misbehaving foal. Of course she'd tried to make a run for it. It was her instinct, just like it was his, but did she have to run _all _the time? Plus as he pulled her along he had to be careful not to step on her. They're so breakable, Chase thought, how do they survive without us horses?

Then she kept trying to pummel him with her front hooves. _How rude_! She was beneath him in this herd's ranking, but she just couldn't be content with her placement. Kate wanted to be a leader, but she couldn't; she was lame in her left fetlock so she couldn't lead anyone anywhere, and anyhow, that was never going to happen. Aly was the lead mare, and he was the protector, the stallion, that's how it would always be. Kate fell under them as just another member of herd. But she had yet to learn this in the quarter moon she'd been with them. Still he knew better then hurt her, even if she did need to learn a lesson. So each time she'd try to get him with her front hooves he'd shake her, not very hard, but enough that it got her attention. Not that it fazed her in the slightest.

Finally she stopped struggling as they approached the tree line. There he unceremoniously dropped her face first onto the forest floor, and immediately turned back to the meadow so he could continue grazing. Aly better get back soon, Chase thought munching on grass, while casting a backward glance to ensure Kate hadn't tried to make a mad dash into the forest. He did not want to have to watch Kate anymore, but she seemed to be thinking everything over so she hadn't moved from where he dropped her. Thank goodness.

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Aly and every other civilian on the streets broke into a run, dispersing into various shops and apartments buildings to escape the downpour that had started mere moments before. Aly saw about three shops ahead on her right a sign that read "ARMY/NAVY SURPLUS". Finally, Aly mumbled, then immediately twisting and spinning to avoid slamming into a big, burly guy who was screaming like a baby running in the opposite direction as her. She quickly regained her balanced then sprinted the rest of the way to the store. Ducking in the doorway, she eyed the cashier, who was busy striking up a conversation with a customer, and didn't even look up at her as she slunk inside.

She quickly disappeared out of view down one of the aisles. Safe. She didn't want any help, there was more of a chance of someone recognizing her. What have I gotten myself into, Aly groaned to herself. Not only do I have to worry about Aly Camargues being sighted, she also had to worry about Kate Austen being spotted too. Just. Bloody. Wonderful.

Aly zeroed in on a bin of army fatigue pants and over-shirts at half-price. Hopefully there would be some in there small enough sized to fit her and Kate. It took a while, but towards the bottom there were several size smalls. Which would be extremely baggy, but they'd do. She picked out enough so both her and Kate would have three sets of clothing each, including the sets she had previously. Then she walked over to the jackets and picked out one for Kate. The whole sharing a jacket thing between the two of them was _not _going to work out; they needed one each.

Aly moved on to the outdoor/camping section of the store. She needed another canteen, another compass/watch combo, and two rain ponchos. No more of this getting soaking wet in the rain crap, Aly thought as she picked out two camouflage rain slickers. She grabbed a canteen off the shelf as she made her way over to the aisle with compasses. There have to be hundreds to select from, Aly thought, slightly overwhelmed about the abundance of compasses to choose from.

All I want is freakin' compass that tells time, Aly thought, scanning the rows to find a compass similar to what she had. Compass with G.P.S. tracking; that is the _last _thing I need. Compass with a built-in flashlight; well that _would _be useful, but not what I want. Compass that picks up AM/FM radio; what the hell? All I want is a compass that shows time! Aly was so lost in her thoughts searching for the right compass she didn't notice the store employee come up behind her.

"Can I help you find anythin'?" the man said, standing right behind Aly's shoulder. Aly yelped, spun around, dropped all the stuff in her hands, and immediately released the catch on the knife strapped to her right forearm letting it fall into her hand unseen by the man. Her body instantly shifted into a defensive position, ready to protect herself.

"Oh, sorry there son...Didn't mean ta scare ya,"he said putting his hands out in front of him, a gesture implying he meant no harm. Aly blinked, realizing it was just the store employee and slid the knife back into its sheath while switching out of her defense mode. She inhaled deeply, steadying her heart which was pumping adrenaline through her veins. She kept her head angled down slightly so he wouldn't get a good look at her face.

"Jumpy lil thing aren't ya?" he said with a chuckle. "So is there anythin' I can help ya find?" He bent over and scooped all the things she'd dropped. She had finally recovered, and murmured a thank you when he handed the stuff to her. She glanced back at the rows upon rows of compasses. She really didn't want to ask for his help, but it was hopeless. She wasn't going to find the compass she wanted anytime soon.

Deepening her voice she replied, "Actually, yeah. I need a compass with a built-in watch. You got any?" With her answer the man turned away from her, and began sweeping the shelves of compasses with his eyes. He walked down a couple of feet from where she stood, and plucked a compass off the shelf and handed it to her.

"That all you need?" he asked. Aly nodded and they both began walking towards the front of the store where the cash register was located. The man stepped behind the counter as Aly placed all the items on the counter. He began ringing up the items, making casual comments about the crummy weather they'd been plagued with lately, and how it put a damper on business since no one wanted to go outdoors, and the store sold outdoor supplies. Aly nodded and made noises of agreement when necessary, but all she wanted was to get out of this store. The man was friendly, but that made her even more nervous. Many men were overtly nice, but Aly was always anxious about their motives if they were.

Finally, the man finished ringing up the prices, and gave her the total: 49.23. Aly mentally reeled from the price. That left her seventy-seven cents to buy their food supplies. Or rather one candy bar. That was about all she could get for that much. With a sinking feeling she handed over the fifty dollars she had. All she had. He handed her back her change, and just as she turned to dart out of the store he said it.

"Wait, I know who you are!" the cashier exclaimed as Aly froze in place, panic constricting her body from movement. With dread, she slowly turned, eyes wide in fear, to face the army navy surplus store worker.


	8. Chapter 8: Raised Right

**Chapter 8** _Raised Right_

_I know who you are._ Aly could hear her heartbeat roaring in her ears as she stood, feet rooted to the ground, waiting for it all to end. This is it, she thought, this is the end of the line. He knows. Then, suddenly, her mind rebelled, protesting her surrender. What in hell am I doing, Aly screamed mentally, I should be running!

Her body automatically reacted to this new command; her body posed for flight and the catch on the knife was slipped open, the knife sliding neatly into her hand. Every nerve was alert, causing her body to slightly shake with anticipation.

"You're the Millers's new foster boy aren't you?" All thoughts of running were gone. Wha? Aly was completely caught off guard by this. She never would've thought that she'd be mistaken for someone else. Finally she regained a semblance of her composure and thoughts, and she lied.

With her gaze cast down at the ground, avoiding eye contact, she answered, flinching when she realized how effortlessly the lie came off her tongue. "Umm, yeah I got here a couple of days ago." She worded it as openly as she could so she didn't get caught in her lie.

"Welcome to the town!" the employee replied warmly, coming from behind the counter to, Aly assumed, to probably introduce himself. Remember what happens when you assume, she warned herself, still holding the knife against the inside of her wrist, placed for quick and easy use. Not that she wanted to. She hated blood, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Should've introduced myself before, my mama raised me better. I'm Rick, Rick Canever," the cashier said as he extended his hand forward. Sh*t, Aly thought, trying to discreetly slid the knife back in the sheath, I seriously need to start putting the knife on my other wrist.

That done she extended her hand cautiously forward, and introduced herself as Eric, not bothering to include a last name since obviously the man knew of her "family". Rick said it was a pleasure to meet him, but Aly cut him off before he could start a casual conversation.

"I really need to get back home before it storms again," Aly said hoping the man would be buy it and let her leave. She smiled at him and started to turn towards the door to make a hasty retreat when the man yelled for her to come back. Aly looked back over her shoulder, wondering what the heck the guy wanted now.

"Your foster parents have store credit, they must've forgotten they had some money left on their account. Here, let me get you their money back," Rick said, walking back to the cash register and withdrawing forty-nine dollars and twenty-three cents. He sauntered back over and placed it in her palm. Aly could not believe her luck. As of late her good luck had run dry, like a creek-bed in a drought. It had been the only _freaking _thing that was dry in this miserable weather. But maybe her luck had changed for the better.

Aly murmured her thanks as she stuffed the money in the pocket of her jacket. "Well, I better get going..." she started to say, but Rick interrupted her.

"Yeah, go on home, don't need your new mama coming after me if you get caught in the rain and track mud into her kitchen," he said and winked at her with a grin on his face. Flustered at Rick's teasing yet genial nature, and how close it hit home to someone she'd once known, she just nodded and with a backward wave goodbye she walked out of the store into the quiet street. She continued walking down the street despite the rain that was falling down softly around her, letting a few tears escape down her face before slamming up the walls of her emotions once again.

* * *

_About two and a half hours later..._

Kate was sitting against the trunk of a tree, her head leaned back until it was resting on the bark of the tree. Her eyes were closed in a meditative-like trance, and the slight breeze blew her dark brown curls across her face, tickling her nose as they brushed across it. This whole staying still until food comes thing is not working, Kate thought, her hand reaching up to put the curls back in place, tucking them behind her ear.

She opened her eyes, and glanced around for Chase. Her eyes lighted on him as he continued to crop grass contentedly about fifty feet from where she sat. She watched him since it seemed he was unaware that he was being spied upon. The grinding of the grass between his teeth, the flicking of his tail against his haunches to swat a bug, the swiveling of his ears to catch the slightest of sounds, the stamping of his front hoof to rid himself of a fly his tail couldn't reach, the way the sun glistened on his shiny ebony coat, the fluttering of his long mane in the breeze, the...

"How ya doin'?," a voice asked in a Southern accent from above her. Kate yelped, leaped into a standing position, and whirled around to face whoever had snuck up on her. Kate eyed the figure leaning against the tree in front of her, a voice in the back of her mind wondering why Chase hadn't heard the person coming up through the woods. A closer examination showed what looked to be a boy her height, in a pair of baggy jeans, camouflage jacket, and hat that cast most of his face in shadow, holding a bundle underneath one of his arms. Kate swallowed back the lump in her throat and spoke.

"Who're you?" The boy grinned and looked up from the ground. Kate stood there slack-jawed. Not a boy. A girl. A girl that if her hair was longer would look just like Aly. "Aly?" she stuttered out, confused. How did her hair get so short? Kate thought flabbergasted.

"Yup, come on let's get a move on," Aly said with the accent gone, her green-blue eyes twinkling mischievously, whistling to Chase who promptly trotted over, looking inordinately pleased with himself as Aly simultaneously pulled the hat off and her hair cascaded down. Realization hit her instantly. That stupid horse did it on purpose! Kate thought, simmering, that's not fair at all, they ganged up on me! She sighed. Fine let them have there fun, as long as there was food she didn't care.

"Aren't we going to eat first?" Kate asked, acting as thought she really didn't care if they ate or not. But she did. A _lot_. She could practically feel her stomach gnawing away at her spine. She wanted food. _Now_.

"Yeah, but we have to get somewhere in order _to _eat," Aly said, tightening the girth on the saddle, then swinging up onto Chase's back. "Come on, faster we get there, the faster we can eat. And take a shower."

A shower? Kate thought as she hobbled over to the horse's side, that sounds nice. But where in hell are we going to find a shower. With Aly's help she swung up behind the saddle, and as soon as she was situated Chase broke into a trot, tracing a path along the trees, heading towards the outskirts of the small town.

Kate didn't know what she'd expected when Aly had told her that they were going to a place to take shower and eat. She'd known Aly wouldn't risk being sighted at a motel, or more importantly leave Chase by himself, but in her desperation for food she hadn't really thought about where they going. But she certainly hadn't expected to be adding another charge onto her record tonight. Breaking and entering.

It was dusk when Chase halted just in the safety of trees, overlooking a huge Tudor-style house that was very much out of place in a town of farmhouses and small two-bedroom homes. There were no lights on in the home, nor any lights on the outside on. The place appeared completely deserted, except it was apparent that people did live there, or at least the property was kept up. The lawn was perfectly manicured, the hedges trimmed to the exact same height, and not a single leaf to be seen on the grass beneath the lone tree in the front yard.

Aly motioned for her to dismount. Kate complied grudgingly, but grabbed Aly by the wrist before they completely incriminated themselves. "You sure this is a good idea?" Kate whispered harshly. "Cause it certainly doesn't seem like it is."

With a smirk Aly replied, "What? You scared or something?" Kate opened her mouth to shoot back some witty retort, but nothing came to her. She stood there fuming, how could a teenage girl make her feel like such a _wuss_? She wasn't scared, but what happened if there was an alarm system on the house? What if there were guard dogs inside the house? Heck, what if the _owners _came home while they were in there? No, she wasn't scared. Definitely not scared. Just...cautious.

Aly rolled her eyes. "There's no one home and I've already disabled the security system," she said as she walked confidently through the shadows cast down by the trees towards the back of the house. _She disabled the security system?_ Kate wondered incredulously, limping to catch up to the slight girl moving determinedly in the direction of the house. _Who the hell is this girl?_

Aly heard the awkward foot-steps that signified Kate was following her. Or rather "Mandy" was following her. But _that_ little detail was going to be resolved tonight, among other things. Some things needed to come out in the open if they were going to travel together. And they'd have to figure out _where _they were going, if anywhere at all.

Aly crept straight as an arrow in flight towards the house and motioned for Kate to hide in the bushes directly under a first story window. That was as far as Kate could go with her ankle. The rest was up to her.

Aly climbed onto the ledge of the first story window, and with all she had, leaped for one of the beams of wood jutting out above the window pane, and held fast once her hands reached around it. She hung there, dangling about ten feet above the ground, to catch her breath then started swinging back and forth, gaining momentum with each swing. After the fifth swing, pushed her legs up and around, landing on the roof in front of some of the second story windows. The rest was just like taking candy from a baby, Aly thought as she walked up to the window she'd broken in through earlier.

She hadn't wanted to leave the entire security system off just in case someone else had decided to throw a party, or break in like she was doing. It was highly unlikely, but she'd seen weirder stuff happen before. A _lot _weirder stuff.

Aly took the thin knife out of the sheath on her left leg and slid it into the crack between the window ledge and window frame, using the knife as a lever to pry the window open. Once the gap was wide enough she slipped her slender fingers under and pushed the window up and open, and quickly scampered inside the house, shutting the window behind her immediately.

Kate was pretty sure she'd met her match in climbing. Damn, that girl's like a monkey, she thought stunned, as she watched Aly leap and swing her way up the side of the house. Once the girl disappeared from view Kate settled herself down to wait for a bit. But it wasn't even three minutes later when she heard Aly whispering to get over to the front door.

She stood up and limped her way over to the front door, and upon reaching the doorstep, was yanked into a dark hallway. Kate expected a light to be turned on, but none flickered on. Instead, a jerk on her wrist drew her forward and guided her down a long hallway, then a sharp turn to the right. There Aly stopped her, and she heard a door shut and the lights suddenly flashed on, turning it night to day.

Kate's eyes swept the room they were standing and whistled in admiration. They were standing in a kitchen/dining area that was probably more square footage then her entire house back in Iowa. A crystal chandelier hung over the dining table, the lighting throwing tiny rainbows across the room as it reflected off and through the crystals. The counter-tops were a polished marble, the cabinets a teak wood finish. The floor was paved in slate tiles, everything scrupulously cleaned to perfection. Whoever owned this house was _loaded._

"Stay here," Aly ordered as she disappeared through another doorway. Where is she going now, Kate wondered, starting to get slightly annoyed at being bossed around by girl who was probably about ten years younger than before she could think anymore on it Aly was back in the room, towels in hand.

"Catch," she said tossing a towel and an extra set of clothes to Kate who fumbled them, but managed to catch it before it hit the ground. "Bathroom's down this hall on the right. Make sure to dry the shower completely when you're done, and if you moved or use anything be sure to remember and put it back exactly where you found it."

Kate nodded and started off down the hall, secretly wishing she could've eaten first.

Once she washed all the dirt and grime off her Kate just stood in the shower, letting the warm water just run off her. She could've stayed there forever, but her stomach brought her back to reality. Hunger pangs thrummed through her abdomen, and she couldn't deny herself food any longer.

She stepped out of the shower, the towel wrapped around her body, and she walked over to the mirror and sink where the hair brush lay. She got her hair unknotted and then pulled it up into a bun at the base of her head. She then slipped into the mercifully clean clothes, and turned back to the shower and mopped up all the remaining moisture, eliminating all traces of having been there.

That done she went back to the kitchen figuring she'd be done first, but Aly was already there, cooking something in a pot on the stove, her hair wet and pulled up into a very similar bun. Kate limped over to the table and collapsed into one of the cushy chairs.

"Hey chef, what's for dinner?" Kate asked jokingly. Aly was still busy stirring something in the pot and replied that it was rice she was cooking. Kate nodded and glanced down at the table seeing a piece of paper that looked like it had been taped up somewhere and ripped down in a hurry. She picked it up, unfolded it, and instantly felt her stomach drop.

It was her wanted poster. Which meant that Aly knew. Knew who she was and what she'd done. Kate slowly raised her head and looked across the room to Aly who stood in front of the stove, watching her as she'd looked at the paper.

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Aly had rushed through her shower and getting dressed to ensure she was done before Kate was, so she could plant the paper on the table and have already started cooking by the time Kate got back to the kitchen. She figured this was the best way to confront Kate about this, because if she'd asked her directly she would just deny it. Now she stood at the stove watching as emotions like panic and a touch of fear flitted across Kate's face upon seeing what the paper was. Then she looked up.

"So," Kate started, but ended it, leaving the word hanging in the air. Aly could tell Kate was trying to judge the reaction on her face, but there wasn't any for her to find. I knew she'd done something, Aly thought, so why does she think I'll automatically hate her or something once she found out exactly what her criminal record looked like? But Kate just sat there looking very nervous waiting for her to respond.

"So, what?" Aly said, continuing to stir the rice. She wasn't about to let this conversation ruin a perfectly good meal, no matter how important it was.

"So, don't you want to know?" Kate replied, the nervousness gone to be replaced by a defiant glint in her eyes. "Don't you want to know about...everything?"

Aly didn't need to know. For the implicit reason that she didn't want to have to share what she'd done. But she knew Kate would think something was amiss if she didn't ask anything. So she asked a question that would probably throw Kate off balance.

"Did he deserve it?" Aly watched in amusement as Kate geared up to provide details, but an expression of confusion swept across her face at this inquiry.

"What?" Kate managed to stutter out, still looking dumbfounded. Aly still kept her face blank, though that was growing increasingly difficult due to the fact that Kate's bewildered expression was getting harder and harder not to laugh at.

"Well, I'm guessing it was a he," Aly answered. "Am I right?" Kate appeared to get some of her wits back and just nodded, probably not trusting herself to speak. "Well, did he deserve it?"

About a minute went by before Kate gulped and whispered, "Yeah. He did." Aly could see tears start to glisten in Kate's eyes so she turned away to give her some privacy, and scoop their rice into bowls so they could eat. That done she walked over to the table and placed a bowl with a fork stuck in the rice in front of Kate who had already eliminated all signs that she'd even shed a tear. Well, I guess someone else keeps their emotions trapped with lock and key too, Aly thought, sliding into a chair. She quickly dug in; she'd had even less food than Kate had for the last week and she needed some sustenance.

"So that's it," Kate said. Aly looked up from her bowl. Good grief can't this wait! she thought. Aly knew what she was asking, but played dumb. She raised an eyebrow in question.

"That's all you want to know. About me...and what I did," Kate stated, but Aly could tell it was a question.

Aly swallowed a mouthful of rice and replied, "Everybody has skeletons in their closet. Some just literally have more than others." Ain't it the truth, she thought, shoveling another forkful of rice down her throat.

Kate nodded, an thoughtful expression coming over her face as she went back to eating. Thank goodness, Aly thought, at least she's satisfied for now. I can finish my rice.

Both of them finished their rice at the same time, putting their forks down in the exact same fashion; diagonally balanced on the right back corner of the bowl. Kate noticed this and smiled faintly, as did Aly who looked up and Kate and grinned. Guess we got even more in common than we thought, Aly thought.

Then Aly noticed Kate was staring at her. She gave her a careful scrutiny before finally speaking.

"So what about you?"

Kate had realized that she and Aly bore very similar appearances before tonight, but she hadn't known how much alike they looked until she saw the wanted paper. She'd known instantly that the second picture wasn't of her; she'd never had hair that color while she was on the run, and she'd never worn army fatigues until the past week while she was traveling with Aly. The only differences between them were their hair and eye colors. Aly's light brown with natural blonde streaks from sunlight and green-blue eyes. Her's a dark brown with pale green eyes. Otherwise they were the same height and build, with the same freckles across their faces.

But what was even odder was how Aly just didn't want to know. Kate got this feeling that Aly had asked if he had deserved it more to appease her than actually because she herself wanted to know. Which was really weird. Most people would have wanted the gruesome details, why she'd done it, and why she'd committed the other crimes. But not Aly. If that _was _her real name. Somehow Kate doubted that it was.

"So what about you?" she'd asked. It's not fair her knowing all that about me and I know nothing about her, Kate thought, waiting for the girl to respond.

"What about me?" was Aly's response to her inquiry. Figures she's going to act like she doesn't know what I'm talking about, Kate thought.

"Well, I don't think it's entirely fair that you know my name and my entire criminal record when I know squat about you," Kate retorted.

Aly grinned, "Well, I don't think it's entirely fair that I got mistaken as you and now I'm stuck traveling with you cause if I get arrested by myself then I'll never in a million years be able to convince the police that I'm not you. But hell, life isn't fair."

Damn, she's a tough cookie to crack, Kate thought, gears in her mind turning trying to figure out how to get Aly to spill. Then she remembered her earlier thoughts that day.

"You stole Chase," Kate said confidently. Aly looked as though someone had slapped her across the face. She quickly recovered, but not before Kate had seen the panic on her face.

Aly inhaled deeply, knowing she'd been caught, and spoke, "Technically, yes. But he was mine, just not on paper. Which of course, makes it legal, or illegal in my case." She stared back up at Kate waiting for the next question.

That didn't make whole lot of sense to Kate, but she decided to skip on to the subject she wanted to quiz Aly on. Her name.

"What's your name then," Kate asked, watching the girl for any signs that she was lying. But instead a smile broke over her face.

"Aly _is _my real name." Huh, she was actually telling me the truth the whole time, Kate thought. Never would've guessed that. But still she wanted more than a first name.

"Last name?"

Aly frowned, but answered without a complaint, "Camargues. But enough, now we're on an even playing field here. We have to figure out what we're doing."

Kate was surprised that Aly had cut down to the point they'd been skirting around this entire conversation, but she nonetheless took up suit. "Just drop me off at the nearest considerably large city we come across, and that would be great. Colorado Springs or Denver would be fine."

Aly looked at Kate like she was a madwoman. Her words confirmed that had been what she was thinking. "Are you crazy? We've been tracked for the past week through a national forest. There are wanted posters all over this town, and if they have this many here in a town with a population this small imagine what it would be like in a huge city! Plus, you can't even run, your ankle is still sprained! And where exactly do you plan on going after I drop you off? And how exactly do you plan on getting there?"

Kate was exasperated. Where did Aly have the gall to sound like her mother once had, back when she had still cared about her daughter? It made her feel like she was a little kid again, and it also made her spill more than she'd intended. "For your information, I plan on going to Canada, and I'll get there the same way I've gotten everywhere else," she responded heatedly.

"There's no way you'll make it Canada if you travel through cities and towns and use roadways! There'll be cops everywhere searching for you. It's suicide! The only way you even have a chance of getting there without getting caught is sticking to the national parks and forests and staying out of the populated areas as much as possible!" Aly practically yelled.

Kate smirked at Aly's outburst that showed her age, "Why? You offering?" Though she couldn't help but admit to herself that the girl was probably right. Cops and federal marshals would be combing the country for her now. And if it hadn't been for Aly and that damned horse she would've been arrested.

"Of course I am. Chase would disown me if I didn't," Aly answered, rolling her eyes. Kate eyed her suspiciously, the _horse _would disown her? That was an odd thing to say.

"Don't you have something else to do besides taking me to Canada?" Kate asked, wondering where exactly Aly's destination was.

But Aly shook her head, "No, I'm just going west. The farther from where I came from the better. It doesn't matter if I detour up to Canada. That's actually probably a better place for me to be anyways."

"So Canada then?" Kate asked tentatively, almost like she expected Aly to change her mind.

Aly nodded in confirmation. "Canada." And hopefully they won't ever find them there, she thought, getting up to wash the dishes before they left the house for good.


	9. Chapter 9: Reflecting Glass

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to LOST or any of its characters; they are property of ABC**

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**Author's Note: I didn't start this story again...I just realized that I never posted my last two completed chapters on here, so here they are.**

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**Chapter 9** _Reflecting Glass_

Sunlight filtered through the canopy formed by the tall coniferous pine trees towering over the trio that were making their way through the seemingly endless forest. The sunbeams glanced off the stallion's obsidian coat, sending up a gleam that suggested that he was curried and brushed extensively on a daily basis. Light set off a shine in the two women's long tresses; one a shade of light brown and blonde that appeared a golden bronze under the rays of light, the other a burnished deep dark chocolate brown. Each were dressed in army fatigues and wore hiking boots on their feet. All looked as though they regularly skimped on meals, shadows appearing between the visible ribs of the stallion's barrel; the clothing on the two women hung loosely around their thin frames.

Each filled a different position. The stallion maintained a steady, ground-eating walk, carrying the two women on his back, his eyes ever watchful and his ears constantly listening to ensure that no danger was approaching them. He was the protector. The youngest of the two women, really only a child still despite the aura of age and wisdom beyond her years, kept her eyes ahead, occasionally checking a compass, more out of habit than need, and with a nudge of her heels or shift of her seat to give the stallion a cue, would realign their course through the maze of pines. She was the leader. The second women, about ten years the younger's senior though she didn't look it, merely sat on the stallion's back, behind the saddle which the younger sat in and gazed out at the forest they passed through, not having a job to due, and growing bored because of her true nature to be a leader. She was the follower.

Each had a less than picture-perfect past. All three had seen death. One had a perfect life, but it was snatched away before it could ever be appreciated, and its loss was mourned every second of the waking day, and sometimes even in dreams. One had been moved from home to home until one day the perfect family was found, but that family had been shattered forever with leaving of one member. One's childhood and teenage years were a lie and with those lies were unforgettable and unforgivable bad memories until the event happened that led to this life. All three were running from those deaths. But none of them knew how much in common they truly had. Secrets swirled all about them, and each could feel the secrets and desire to know the other's secrets eating away at them. But none had the nerve, or in one's case, the ability to ask about the other's deep dark mysterious pasts.

So they remained silent, never asking what needed to be said. The truth needed to come out, but not until all three were ready for it. But the question was if any of them ever would be. And so they continued their trek. Continued walking in silence, continuing not to know the whole truth.

Each hoof thudded into the earth, muffled by damp, but not wet ground. Damp enough they didn't leave a dust trail or hoofprints in the forest floor, but dry enough that there was no mud to be splattered on the Chase's legs or on them when they dismounted to take a break and let Chase rest. It had _finally _stopped raining. The morning or rather late night,( either worked as a description), they had left the house and that town it hadn't rained a drop and had continued that trend thus far. _Thankfully_. They were just a little more than day's ride from the town, the place where they had restocked.

Kate hadn't bothered to learn the town's name; she'd been too tired and hungry to care. Unlike now. Now she was fully awake and her hunger was sated, and she was ever so alert. Too bad she didn't really have anything to do. Chase and Aly pretty much had all the bases covered. Heck, Kate thought, I'm bored enough to actually start a conversation. I've certainly got enough questions to ask Aly. But her mouth remained closed since she might have dish out some answers of her own. She could feel questions beginning to bubble up in her throat, though, and she knew it was only a matter of time before she conceded defeat to her own curiosity.

Despite Chase already watching their backs, she still glanced back over her shoulder to survey their back trail, not that there was much of one. But old habits died hard. She'd been looking over her shoulder for the past four (or was it five, she pondered) years, always in fear that they'd caught up with her. The past week or so hadn't done much to ease that fear either, but it appeared that the three of them had finally lost the trackers when they had stopped in the town. No doubt Aly had something to with too, Kate thought, turning her now suspicious gaze forward to the girl seated in the saddle right before her. All Kate could she was a very up close view of the back of Aly's head, not that it mattered, Aly guarded her expression as tightly as one might guard the crown jewels, so Kate wouldn't be able to read her face like she did so many others'. Even if she could see it at this exact moment.

She wasn't sure how Aly accomplished things like she did, nor comprehend when, where, or why she'd learned things like disabling an alarm system, breaking into a house from the second floor, erasing a trail and signs of a camp, and knife-fighting, though Aly probably thought that Kate didn't know about the knives. Kate had to admit, she wouldn't have noticed if Aly's sleeve hadn't caught on a low branch and been pulled back to reveal the sheath with a flat blade on her wrist. Kate pretended like she hadn't seen it and never mentioned the knives (she assumed there was more than one), waiting until it needed to be brought up. But really Kate wanted to know where Aly had learned these skills, being that she was so young (or at least seemed to be) and couldn't have been on the run for very long. That's where Kate learned everything, aside from the tracking and living in the outdoors, and basic self-defense moves which she had learned from her dad. On the run. Desperation makes a good learner, and the time running had seen her acquiring new skills and honing her previous ones. But that had been years of running from the police and the FBI, Aly couldn't _possibly _have that much experience, could she? Especially since she was so young, or at least Kate thought she was.

It was difficult to guess her age, Kate figured about sixteen or seventeen, but she could be older, or possibly a year younger; Aly was probably like Kate in that respect, never changing physically in appearance since the age of about fifteen or sixteen, along with the uncanny similarity in looks. Kate, to be honest, truly hadn't noticed how alike they looked until she saw the wanted poster with both of their pictures. She tried not to dwell on what she'd become by looking at herself in the mirror when she could afford a motel room, or even when she'd been using someone to get something she needed, she'd avoided looking in the reflecting glass, because she really didn't want to know what she looked like. Until now. Now she had her mirror image incarnate as a traveling partner, just with different colored hair and eyes. Same height, same slender build, same freckles, and the same need to run. It was actually kind of creepy, but that was life. At least that was _her _life. Her life had never been normal, nor would it ever be. But she wanted to know more about Aly, aside from the fact she had stolen Chase, or as Aly had said "technically, yes (I stole him). He was mine, just not on paper." Whatever that meant. But Kate definitely wanted to find out. Sooner preferably, rather than later.

Aly was fatigue drunk. If she'd been asked to walk a line for a sobriety test she wouldn't pass; she'd stagger and zigzag attempting to keep her eyes open while the police officer stood with the cuffs ready to slap them on and haul her off. She had gotten less than two hours of sleep last night and that, coupled with the fact she hadn't gotten more than five hours of rest in the past week, left her so exhausted she could barely see straight. Aly was immensely thankful for Chase right now, being that she wouldn't be able to walk more than twenty feet without passing out cold on the ground. She was _that _tired. All she had to do for the moment was sit in the saddle in a half-daze, huddle inside her jacket, and about every fifteen minutes check their bearing on the compass and if need be, cue Chase to adjust the direction they were traveling in.

She couldn't, wouldn't sleep. Memories haunted her by day, dreams by night. The only plus to her state of exhaustion was that she lacked the energy to think about any those past memories, only those pertaining to the here and now. All she really wanted to do was curl up somewhere and fall into a dreamless sleep. But that wasn't going to happen. Apparently there wasn't going to be such a thing as dreamless sleep, at least not while she was traveling with the trigger to the memory.

They were about a day's ride northwest of the tiny little town of Lathrin, Colorado. It reminded her a lot of the small little town in the middle of nowhere that she had grown up on the outskirts of. Her and her family technically could have lived anywhere they wanted; they were quite well off financially, though one would've never guessed it because of where they lived, how they dressed, and how they spoke and acted. The land had been her grandparents' on her father's side and her father had inherited it at the very young age of eighteen when his mother and father passed away. And he'd never sold the land; it was his home and he'd never give it up, despite it being far from any major cities or horse show grounds. That made Aly's stomach roll; she'd abandoned the place that he loved and left it to..._her_. I can only imagine what that no-good cheatin' bitch and her bastard of a husband have done to my beautiful home, she thought, the anger beginning to refuel her, lifting her out of her sleep-deprived daze. Not that thinking about the past was she wanted to dwell upon right now, but it had definitely served its purpose in waking her up. Luckily, a distraction was coming her way.

"How'd you know that the house was empty?" asked a voice from behind Aly. Aly smirked and thought, Kate can't handle the quiet. Aly remained silent for a couple of seconds which stretched into a minute, laughing silently at the waves of impatience that she could almost physically feel radiating from Kate. Well, I guess I should let her off the hook, Aly thought, as she opened her mouth to answer.

"Overheard the town gossips discussing the juiciest stories of the week. You know, who's sleeping with whom, who's cheating on whom, who might be pregnant, who's definitely pregnant, who _looks _like they're pregnant, and who just happened to win a week's vacation on a cruise to the Bahamas," Aly replied, with a giggle, remembering every detail of the conversation she'd eavesdropped on while getting food for the journey ahead. And how she'd nearly had to stuff her fist in her mouth to keep from laughing aloud. "And also how that the couple who won the cruise blew a whole bunch of money on a security system for the house because they didn't trust anyone not to break in and steal stuff."

"Where the heck did you hear all of that?" Kate questioned her incredulously. "I mean, how did they not notice that you were listening to their entire conversation?"

"Churches and grocery stores are central headquarters for small town housewives who have nothing better to do but gossip," Aly responded. "And as for how they didn't see me, I was hidden in another aisle next to them, and I just pretended I was _real _interested in the vast differences between turkey jerky brands."

Kate feel silent, digesting what Aly had said, but Aly figured the questions would resume once Kate had processed all that, or worked up the courage to ask a deeper question, whichever came first. She's probably going to want to know how I broke into that house too, Aly thought, and just as the thought entered through her mind, she heard Kate clear her throat like she was about to say something.

"Where did you learn to disarm security systems?" Kate queried. Aly grinned, but before she could answer, the strident sound of a brittle stick snapping in the forest behind them reached her ears. She grappled for the slingshot and ammo tucked into her pockets as Chase simultaneously spun hard on his haunches, spinning to face their opponent, leaving Kate to scramble to stay on.

The sedate pace through the forest was a relief for Chase and was doing much to restoring his depleted energy reserves. He'd been tired to the bone from the grueling pace he'd kept up with two humans on his back for the past seven or eight sunrises. But now he actually felt pretty coltish. He was hungry, but he'd be able to graze when they stopped to rest and later, past sundown, when Aly had found them a place to sleep.

He twisted his head slightly to the side, glancing back to the two slight humans he bore on his back. Aly, sitting in the front, had her eyes shut, presumably dozing, or trying too, while Kate looked everywhere, and every so often would check behind them at their back trail. Suddenly, Aly's eyes flew open and she checked her compass for their bearing. So much for her napping, Chase thought, as he adjusted his course slightly, when Aly tapped her left heel against his side.

Chase wished that Aly would rest, but he knew it wasn't a good idea either. Every time she went to sleep in the past seven sunrises he'd had to wake her. She would began shaking and sweating, and her legs would twitch like she was trying to gallop, but was hobbled by an unseen force. If he didn't wake her by that point she would begin to thrash about, whimpering and mumbling words he couldn't quite catch. Aly would then spend the rest of the night crying into his mane or somewhere very close to him, either curled up at his front hooves, or stretched out on his back, never going back to sleep after that. He wanted to comfort her, but there was only so much he could do.

He continued his trek, weaving past this tree and that, until he felt Aly grow stiffer on his back. He flicked on ear back, wondering what had caused her to become angry. He then felt her begin to relax when Kate asked Aly something. He only caught one word, "house". The others were beyond his comprehension. Chase had a very good grasp of the human language for a horse or any other animal for that matter, but even then he could only pick out certain words from a conversation. Hopefully Aly will tell me later, Chase thought, it always makes more sense when she tells me.

Chase half-listened to Kate and Aly talking, but otherwise scanned the woods for any signs, scents, or sounds of danger. That's when he heard the sound of a tree branch breaking. He wheeled around, hoping that Kate could stick onto his back through that turn, feeling Aly pulling her rock-shooter out and aiming it. He froze in place, ears pricked forward listening for what was coming, every muscle fiber waiting in anticipation for the gallop he expected would ensue.

Aly sat deep in the saddle, her heels down, her back straight, with her right arm pulling the rubber sides of the sling holding the small, round slug back, and her left hand grasping the wooden 'Y' of the sling shot, steadying it to aim at whatever was behind them. Chase stood rock-still, his ear facing forward, his neck arched as if he was ready to do battle. And Aly sincerely hoped it wouldn't come to that. She could scarcely feel Kate's death grip around her stomach, she was that intent on whatever was following them.

Seconds turned into minutes, and nothing happened. Taking a deep breathe, Aly tried to release some tension from her body. She partially succeeded, and about this time, Chase began to walk forward, ever so slowly, making the least amount of noise as possible. Aly still held the slingshot, ready to fire, as she surveyed the forest around her. Nothing.

She glanced back at Kate, whose hard green eyes stared into her's for a few seconds, as if asking for something, then broke off contact to scan the surrounding area. Aly had a faint idea of what she might want, and figured it would probably be best if Kate _was _armed. Not wanting to bring down her weapon she threw her head in the direction of her right wrist, which was closest to Kate. Kate, without any confusion on her freckled face, nodded once and slipped the knife from the sheath on Aly's arm. Huh, Aly thought, she already knew about the knives. How'd that happen? I thought I kept those hidden.

Reality snapped her back as the high brush about twenty feet to their left shook and moved. Aly swung the slingshot and took aim at the brush, wishing it was perhaps a very large squirrel or maybe a rabbit, but not a human. She really didn't want to have to permanently damage anyone, even if they had no qualms about doing the same to her. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see Kate gripping the knife ready to stab anything that came her way. Chase had shifted all his weight back, poised for flight if need arose. I really hope we don't have to run, Aly thought, we _just _stopped running.

A deer popped out of the brush. It was a young doe frozen in place, her light brown coat probably just having shed out the white spots of fawnhood, whose eyes were wide in fear. A _deer_. Aly let loose a sigh of relief and that broke the spell. The doe ran, leaping with every stride, away from Chase, Kate, and Aly. Adrenaline Aly didn't know had been pumping through her body, was flooding out, leaving her shaking in the saddle. She wasn't too shocked to notice that Kate was doing the same.

"Her-Here's your knife back," Kate stuttered, holding the knife by the blade, and extending the hilt into Aly's trembling hand. Aly nodded and returned the knife to its hidden place on her wrist. She hooked the slingshot over the saddle horn, so it could be ready at a moment's notice and once again, took a deep breathe. Just a deer, only a deer, she repeated to herself.

The only thing that Kate was painfully aware of was that she _didn't _have a gun. And neither did Aly. They were being followed by the goddamn police and they _didn't _have any guns. All they had was a slingshot, and some knives (which were only good for close-range fighting) to defend themselves with against pistols and rifles. Just freakin' wonderful, Kate thought, as Chase began to cautiously walk forward, towards the source of the sound.

She felt like her eyes were going to jump out of her head, she was trying to look everywhere at once. I can't see anything through all the trees and the brush, Kate thought, feeling as though her heart was about to burst. She couldn't get caught _now_.

Kate could see Aly doing the same as her, scanning the forest around them, slingshot in hand. Then Aly glanced back her and their eyes met momentarily. I could use a weapon to you know, Kate thought at Aly, not daring to say it aloud. That's when Aly tossed her head towards her forearm, the wrist where a flat blade was concealed. Kate knew instantly what Aly meant and quickly removed the knife, and held tightly onto the hilt. Well, at least I'm armed, Kate thought, as Aly hide her look of surprise, presumably at Kate's knowledge of the knife. You're not the only one who knows things, Kate thought, and probably would've laughed about if the situation hadn't been so dire.

That's when the brush about twenty feet to her left began to thrash and shake about. Her pulse raced and her heart beat erratically in her chest. All she had to defend herself with was a measly knife. She could feel Chase rocking his weight back, ready to run at any second while Aly took aim at the brush with her slingshot. She gripped the knife in her hand even tighter, her knuckles turning a pale shade of white as she clenched onto the hilt, ready to stab someone who got close enough.

A deer popped out of the brush. It was a young doe frozen in place, her light brown coat probably just having shed out the white spots of fawnhood, whose eyes were wide in fear. A _deer_. Aly in front of her let loose a sigh of relief and that broke the spell. The doe ran, leaping with every stride, away from the place where Kate sat rooted to Chase's back. Adrenaline was flooding out of Kate's body, leaving her shaking. And Kate wasn't too surprised to notice that Aly was doing the same.

So much for the danger, Kate thought, it was just a deer. Just a deer.

"Her-Here's your knife back," she said, nearly kicking herself for stuttering like she was scared out of her mind. Well, you sort of are, said that little nagging voice in the back of her head. Kate frowned and handed the knife back to Aly who immediately slid into its place on her wrist.

The three of them stood there, in the middle of the forest, for several minutes until it seemed everyone's heart rates had gone back to a normal level. Then Chase reversed directions, heading back on the path they'd already created. He walked a few steps then broke into a trot, but no one objected. As space as we put between us and there, the better, Kate thought, despite their "follower" only being a deer. Better safe than sorry.

_13:24. _Kate checked the time on the compass/watch that Aly had picked up when they'd restocked in the town. Lucky I know military time, she thought, as she quickly calculated that it was 1:24 pm. It was several hours from when they'd had their scare, and she figured it was getting close to time for a break. And hopefully some lunch. She was pretty hungry.

Just as she thought this Aly, tapped Chase's side and he hung a right into a very small clearing with a few patches of grass. Kate could here the rushing of a creek near by and as soon as Chase halted she dismounted, careful to avoid putting too much pressure onto her ankle. It was doing much better and hardly bothered her at all, but she didn't want to re-sprain it. That wouldn't be good at all.

Aly too, swung off Chase's back, and began uncinching the girth, lifting the saddle off and carefully laying down, making sure not to place it so the tree of the saddle got damaged. Then she slid the bridle off Chase's head and placed it with the saddle. Kate was shocked to notice that there was no bit; the bridle was nothing than a leather halter made to look like a bridle. I can't believe I never even saw that before, Kate thought, flabbergasted. She rides a _stallion _in a halter? No, not halter, she thought, racking her brain for the word. It starts with an 'H', but what is it? Hacka, hackater, hackidle, hackamore, hackamore! That's it, she thought.

"You ride him in a hackamore?" Kate asked before she'd even realized it. Aly looked at her for a few seconds, blinked, and said:

"_Yeeeaah_," drawling it out. "Why?"

Kate was a little flustered, granted Chase was the best trained horse she'd ever met, but most stallions were generally deemed as out of control, and wouldn't Aly need more than a hackamore to ride him? "Well, he's a stallion...," Kate said, sort of wondering why Aly was giving her an 'are-you-serious-look'.

"Haven't you realized that Chase ain-isn't your average horse?" Aly asked her quizzically. That's certainly true, Kate thought, but... Chase looked at her calmly and Kate gulped, that horse's gaze still made her want to high-tail it in the other direction. That's _definitely _true.

"Yeah, I guess, but aren't stallions usually more, I don't know, less calm?" Kate asked. Aly gave her a funny look; her green-blue eyes narrowed, her eyebrows scrunched together, and that line you get over the bridge of your nose when you're thinking hard appeared as she studied Kate.

"You've been around horses, haven't you?" Aly questioned. Kate's face hardened. That question dug to far back in her past. Farther than she wished to discuss with anyone. And so, she did one of the two things she did best in life. She lied.

"No, no, I just—read it in a book once," Kate said before turning to where she heard the running water. As she walked out of the clearing she called over her shoulder, "I'm going to go wash off my hands before lunch."

Kate trudged through the woods and came to a stop at the edge of the slowly moving creek. It wasn't very large, the creek, maybe five feet wide and a foot deep, but the water was clean and cold, probably having run off from a mountain spring. She knelt on the bank and cupped some water in hands to splash the travel grime off her face. Kate then scrubbed her hands as best she could, whether she was trying to scrub dirt off or the feeling of being 'unclean', she didn't really know, but at any rate, she scrubbed until her hands and arms were raw sort of red. Great, Kate thought, now my skin's probably going to be sore for days. She rocked her weight back and stood up, eying a nice flat rock right on the edge of the creek. A perfect place to sit.

She walked the couple of steps to it and sat down, turning her gaze to the water. The water was clear and slow enough that she could see her reflection perfectly on surface of the creek. Dark brown curls framing her fair, freckled face and the green eyes that had a somewhat haunted look in them, the dusty army fatigues that hung around her slender frame, and the old, worn hiking boots she'd had for years. Since she was already traipsing down memory lane due to Aly last question, she tried to remember what she'd looked before. She'd always been skinny, but now she was even thinner, underweight probably by a doctor's standards. Her face had developed a much more haggard, worn look to it, the faint rings around her eyes supported that. Kate had never been an overly happy child or teen, or even adult, due to her stepfather's hold on her and her mother's life, but the years on the run had gotten to her.

Kate, as she gazed at her reflection in the water, realized that Aly had that same worn look to her. Stealing a horse wouldn't be conducive to that sort of perpetually haunted appearance. There's more, Kate thought, that's why she changed the subject so fast when we were talking about it. Kate was miffed, Aly knew everything she'd done, Kate thought, couldn't she reciprocate? But on the other hand, Kate knew that Aly was smart not to lay down all her cards just yet.

Her reverie was broken by the sound of something crashing through the brush behind her. About a second later, as something or someone was still moving through the brush towards her, she heard two simultaneous screams, one equine, the other human, though it was difficult to distinguish between the two. Kate leapt to her feet and spun around, knowing she had to get to Chase and Aly immediately, but froze in place when the 'something' emerged from the brush.


	10. Chapter 10: Battle

**Chapter Ten **_Battle_

_She knows about horses_, Aly thought, mulling over this new development as she laid the saddle and hackamore down against the base of a tree so Chase could have a break from the burden of carrying them. Aly spared a glance over her shoulder before returning to her thoughts and preparing their lunch; Chase was grazing about ten feet away and Kate had disappeared from view in the direction of the creek. Same as always, Kate was running away, this time from the question. She ran from the police, she ran from her past, she ran from any questions _about_ her past, she ran, continually ran. Chase's head rose from his grazing and shot her what could only be an exasperated look. Aly chuckled softly to herself and corrected her thoughts, ALL of us run from the police, all of us run from our pasts, all of us run from any questions about our pasts, we run, always run— Chase blew softly through his nostrils and returned to his grazing. Aly shook her head, a smile ghosting her lips as she pulled some turkey jerky and trail mix for Kate and her to eat out of a saddle bag.

Aly sat herself down and braced against the tree trunk and waited for Kate to return somewhat impatiently. Politeness hammered into her head since she was small told her to wait for Kate to come back before she ate, but if Kate didn't appear within the next minute or so she was going to forego proper manners and eat her meal. Trying to distract herself form her hunger, she looked around the clearing. It was beautiful, the tall majestic trees, the lush grass with spatters of wildflowers in it, the tree limbs scattering light-motes in the air, and of course the stallion grazing, whom looked as though he'd stepped from a child's fantasy. Like the horse your knight-in-shining-armor would ride up on or like a dark unicorn appearing to save the fair maiden (minus the horn of course).

Aly rolled her eyes at her own musings; she'd long since stopped believing in the fairy tale that the perfect man would ride up, sweep you off your feet, and gallop off with you into the sunset, and if there were any unicorns in the world, they too were horrified by what people were doing to each other and to the earth itself to show themselves to the world. There are only two things in life you can count on, Aly thought, horses and yourself. Not your dream guy, not friends, not your family, because in the end, they never show up when you need them most, or leave you when you need them most. Aly felt guilty about thinking the last part, but it was true so she pushed it to the back of her mind, and stood up, and checking her watch. Kate had been gone for over ten minutes. Washing her hands shouldn't have taken that long. Aly took a step forward, to make her way across the clearing when Chase's head shot up, his ears pricked in the direction they had come from.

She froze, and that's when she heard the disruption to the normal sounds of the forest; the sound of their loud followers crashing their way through the underbrush. The followers that had probably spooked the deer earlier in the day. Aly was diving for the slingshot hooked over the saddlehorn as the 'somethings' emerged from the brush about twenty feet from her. Chase screamed a warning as he reared up, pawing the air with his front hooves. Whether the warning was to her and Kate or what had been tailing them Aly didn't know, as Aly yelled for Kate to run.

The only thing Kate could be thankful for at the moment as she stood, her legs locked in fear, was that it wasn't a police officer looming in front of her, gun and handcuffs at the ready. Though she was really beginning to think a police officer would have been preferable.

The 'something' stood in the form of dog, a cross between looked like a Great Dane and something smaller, meaner, and _much_ more deadly. Kate back-pedaled as the brown-and-white patched dog advanced on her, growling menacingly. And for the second time that day, she was distinctly aware of the fact that she was unarmed. This isn't a police dog, Kate thought, and that made the pit that had been forming in stomach turn to lead. If the wild, hunger-driven eyes didn't express it, the lean, muscled body that had not an ounce of fat on it told the story; this dog wasn't somebody's pet or a police dog that could be called off from its attack. It was wild, feral, and answered to no one but its pack and its own hunger.

Instincts that had kept her out of jail for many years told her to run, but she was cornered effectively, with the creek behind her and the dog between her and where Chase and Aly were. I have absolutely nowhere to run, Kate thought, filling with dread at the very notion. That was something she'd always counted on, being able to escape any situation by running away, not out of cowardice but out of necessity. And now she couldn't; the dog would be on her within seconds and judging by the saliva dripping from the corner of its mouth, it clearly was not adverse to eating a human. She took another step back, the water from the creek now running around her worn hiking boots, but the dog then began to pace forward slowly, the growl still rumbling from deep within its chest.

As she stood there, water rushing around her ankles, heart beating loudly in her chest, minutes slowly ticking by, the dog inching closer every second, Kate began to realize that she was going to die. She couldn't expect any help from Aly or Chase, because judging on the sounds coming from the clearing on the other side of the brush, there was a fight going on. And she had a feeling she knew who was losing. The dog's yip of excitement, probably in anticipation of its coming meal, brought her back to the situation at hand. I just hope its quick, Kate thought, gulping at the mental image of her being torn apart limb by limb. It certainly wasn't the way she'd have preferred to die, or in this case, be killed.

Suddenly, a pained cry, then a furious scream rang out, followed by a thud that could only be of hoof on bone. A terrible keening wail rose through the air, and the dog's head swung about, turning back towards its pack. Kate bolted, taking advantage of the dog's momentary lapse in attention. She ran past the dog, sprinting for the clearing before she realized that her choice in direction was probably not the smartest.

Before her lay her lay a battlefield, with the fight still very much taking place. The meadow was torn and trampled in places, with blood splatters across the blades of grass, and the limp, unmoving bodies of those who'd fallen. The center of the clearing was a swirling mass of browns, greys, tans, reds, and whites with the fixed color being the jet black stallion who lashed and struck out with almost supernatural speed with his hooves at the swarm of dogs that attacked him from all sides. And that's when Kate noticed that Aly was nowhere in sight. Oh no, they didn't get her, did they, Kate asked, dread beginning to fill her entire body.

A howl came from behind her and Kate spun around to face, once again, the menacing form of the dog that she'd just gotten away from. The dog crouched down, the muscles in its back legs and back taut in preparation for the leap it was about to make at her.

"Duck!"

Kate obeyed without thinking. Something small and round whizzed over her hunched form and struck the dog square in the nose. The dog yelped loudly, blood spurting from its nose, as it bolted into the bushes, heading back in the direction of the creek. Kate wheeled around, confused as to where the voice had come from, glancing all about the clearing when finally her eyes came to rest again, at the shifting, constantly moving center of the clearing. What she saw surprised her.

Aly was facing away from her, standing back to back with Chase, managing to dodge to his flying hooves while fending off any dogs that came too close to her or to her horse. Relief flooded through Kate until Chase and Aly's positions changed in the middle of the ring surrounding them. Now, Kate could clearly see Aly's face, and any relief that she'd felt about Aly being alive vanished.

A jagged, freely bleeding gash marred Aly's right cheek, the blood running down her face to drip onto her already blood-stained shirt. Her entire left sleeve hung in torn, ripped shreds, with blood covering all visible parts of that arm. There were rips and tears on other parts of Aly's shirt and Kate didn't even want to imagine what condition her legs were in. But Aly continued to stand her ground, never faltering, for a mistake now would mean an almost certain death. She wielded a knife in each hand, the slingshot apparently not being used any longer, but there was something off in the way she was holding the knives. Kate couldn't really place it until one of Aly's movements brought her hands into view of the sunlight. The glint of the blade, was dulled and hidden by the blood flowing over it, and the _hand_ that gripped it.

Kate looked on, dumbfounded, as Aly proceeded to use the _hilts_ of the knives she carried to land carefully placed raps on the heads of the dogs that launched themselves at her. She was aiming to disable, not to kill, like the dogs were, or even Chase. What the hell is she trying to do, Kate wondered, just as Aly's head snapped up, meeting her gaze. Aly looked at her, looking just as confused as she felt. But Aly's look of confusion quickly turned to one of anger.

"Don't jus' stand there! Get up the damn tree 'fore ya get yourself killed!" Aly yelled, just as one dog took advantage of her distraction to jump at her face again. Aly yelped, but before the dog could even touch her, Chase delivered a lethal blow. His hoof connected with the side of the dog's head, just along the jaw-line, and with a sickening crunch, the dog's neck snapped as its head hung at a awkward, unnatural angle. One of its pack members came out of the fight, sniffing the dead body carefully, licking it once before raising its eyes. That gaze found Kate in its line of sight. The dog bared its teeth, jumped over the corpse, and ran arrow straight for her.

Kate needed no more prodding than that. She ran for the nearest tree, making a flying leap at the lowest branch, and swinging up onto it once her hands gripped it tightly. Teeth snapped loudly below her as she continued to scramble up the tree, only glancing back once towards Chase and Aly before resuming her task of getting up higher into the tree, but part of her was fighting how much of a coward she'd become within the last few weeks, and the guilt of leaving Chase and Aly to fend for themselves.

Aly'd barely had the chance to unhook the slingshot from the saddlehorn before she was completely surrounded by the dogs, all which came up to her waist, looking like mixtures between something huge, and something that was extremely blood-thirsty. _Not _a good combination. One latched onto her left arm and she could feel the shirt as well as her skin tear as she struggled to free herself from the sharp, dagger-like teeth and the crushing power of the dog's enormous jaws. The dog began pulling her down towards the ground and another helped by jumping on her shoulders and biting down across her right shoulder blade. Aly could feel her collarbone beginning to crack under the pressure and the pain was nearly unbearable. Tears wavered across her vision and all she could see was a blurry outline of another dog that was preparing to make a leap at her face.

I'm gonna die at sixteen, Aly thought, as her knees gave out under the weight of the dog that had pinned her shoulders. She felt the dog ripping at her left arm release it, then quickly bite down again, this time further up the arm, into the upper arm muscles. Aly quickly stopped trying to free her arm, for any attempt now would rip the muscles. Suddenly, the pressure on her right shoulder and collarbone was gone and through her rapidly clearing vision, she saw Chase, glorious in his fighting state, shaking the dog by the neck, until she heard a crack, and the stallion swiftly dropped the now dead dog, just like a puppy whose gotten bored by its chew toy.

More dogs jumped and attacked Chase. He wheeled and lashed out with both hind legs, catching one brindle-colored dog across the ribs before he launched himself back at Aly. Aly closed her eyes, not wanting to see what was coming next. All she heard was a yelp and the teeth that had trapped her arm were gone. She jumped up to Chase's side, knocking aside a brownish-red dog that had the intentions of hamstringing Chase's back leg. The stallion, in turn, pummeled one dog into the ground that had decided to try to latch onto her good arm.

Somehow, she'd managed to hold onto her slingshot, and she put that in between her teeth as she released the knives on both of her wrists simultaneously. The knife in her left hand was already slippery with blood, as result of the bites on her arm, and she nearly lost her grip on it. She now stood back to back with Chase, having to duck beneath his deadly hooves when he aimed for a dog that was coming at her, and protecting him from any dog that tried to get him from behind. She was aware that Chase had massive lacerations across his back, running like a fountain of blood off his sides, and her heart twinged at the fact that she couldn't help him with those right now. She had no idea how she was going to get out of this situation, and in the back of her mind, there was a voice that said that they might _not _get out alive.

The only bright point, albeit a very dim one, was that she was going to die with her horse at her side, which if given the choice, was how she'd always wanted to go, ever since she was little. And now she was probably going to get that wish. I hope its quick, Aly thought, not really thrilled with the idea of being torn and eaten alive. The sight of Chase rearing out the corner of her eye snapped her back to attention. With the fighting in such close quarters, he'd never do that because it ran the risk of one of the dogs gutting him, unless he was planning on using a high level dressage movement, one originally used in battle. Called the _courbette_, a horse rocks back onto its hind legs, perfectly poised with the front legs tucked against its chest, and then leaps forward into the air, all four feet off the ground at once. The courbette called for extreme strength, stamina, and extensive training to be accomplished, which was why so few horses in the world could do it. It was a move favored by mounted officers to clear the pathway in front of them during battle. Now, Aly just needed to stick with Chase when he did this so they didn't get separated. He might be able to manage by himself, but there was no way that she could.

Chase launched himself skyward, scattering dogs as he went, and Aly followed in his wake. The stallion landed (on top of one unsuspecting dog), spun (breaking the dog's back), and with a massive jump, came down right behind Aly, where he resumed his back to back fighting. Aly smiled grimly at Chase, who almost seemed to be enjoying himself in some way. Chase's _courbette_ appeared to have made the dogs a bit more apprehensive about them, and although the dogs were still shifting constantly, circling them, they were picking their attacks more carefully.

It was impossible to count exactly how many dogs were in this pack, as they never stopped moving long enough for one to make a proper estimate, but Aly knew there were at least four dogs down, but there were definitely much more than that attacking her and Chase now. And who knows how many more are after Kate, Aly thought, then suddenly blanched because until this moment, she'd forgotten about Kate. _Unarmed_ Kate. There's no way she's alive, Aly thought miserably. So even if she came out of this alive, she'd have the guilt of another death on her conscience. Her eyes began to tear up, blurring her vision, and she hastily scrubbed a hand over her eyes to rid herself of the tears. One dog, chocolate brown with one splotch of white over its eyes, seized this opportunity and jumped at her face.

Aly staggered back, but the corner of the dog's mouth grazed her cheek, ripping the skin as it went. The pain was instantaneous, and Aly let out a pained cry that echoed oddly across the clearing. Chase screamed in rage at the dog who'd dared to harm her, and he wheeled on his haunches, letting his front hooves fly as the dog came into range. Aly was vaguely aware through the pain of the dull thud of Chase's hoof as it connected with the dog's foreleg and the high-pitched wail that accompanied the sound. The dog dropped out of the fight, favoring its right leg as it limped off away from the raging black stallion.

She resolved not to get that distracted again, even _if _she'd lost Kate, because it wouldn't do her any good to get herself killed too, not if she could help it. The battle continued and she mechanically warded off attacks using the hilt of her knife, hardly even noticing the biting pain coming from the palms of her hands as the knife blade sunk deeper and deeper into the flesh. Even though she was fighting for her life, and Chase's, she couldn't willingly kill any of these dogs. It wasn't their fault for this, not really. They were governed by their instincts, and those instincts told them they were hungry; they weren't trying to kill them out of evilness, they were living according to their natures. Unfortunately, Aly thought, their natures also tell them that humans are fair game. Literally.

A howl from the opposite end of the clearing dragged Aly's attention toward the direction of the creek. And what she saw was an unscathed, _alive _Kate with her back facing Aly, and huge dog that was about to make a meal out of her. Working swiftly, Aly threw her slingshot into the air with a toss of her head, shoved the knives back into their sheaths, caught the slingshot on its way down, and aimed the weapon, the slug already loaded.

"Duck!" Aly yelled as Kate did just that, and the slug slammed right into the dog's nose. If she'd pulled back a bit harder on the slingshot she could have made the ammo go right through the dog's skull, but she was glad she didn't. The dog wheeled about, running for the bushes it had emerged from, blood streaming from its nose. She was drawn back to her own battle when from the corner of her eye, another dog leaped for her badly injured left arm. Aly turned, dropping the slingshot, and released the knife from her right wrist just in time to rap the dog between the eyes. Dazed, the dog stumbled back a few steps, during which Aly took the opportunity to get out her other knife.

The dog, recovering from Aly's well placed tap, got a running start, but this time, she was ready for it. The dog, running full-tilt for her, leapt at her from the side, but Aly used the dog's own momentum against it, and as it came closer to her in its jump, she thrust her hip out, clipping the dog mid-jump. The dog staggered on its landing, and that moment of unbalance was all the time Chase needed. He took out the dog with one well-placed kick to skull. Aly took this slight lull in the onslaught against her to see where Kate had run off to. Well, she hadn't.

Aly saw Kate, standing exactly where she'd been standing before, now with a look of shock and confusion on her face. What in hell is she doing, Aly thought, wondering why Kate hadn't started climbing up a tree or running in the opposite direction. And Kate just continued to stand there, frozen in place, frozen in shock.

"Don't jus' stand there! Get up the damn tree 'fore ya get yourself killed!" Aly yelled, knowing once one of the dogs currently attacking her and Chase caught scent of Kate, that Kate wouldn't, couldn't stand a chance. Now another dog, this time a steel-gray, jumped at her face, and Chase executed it with the same efficiency he'd been displaying the whole fight. But this time, one of the now dead dog's pack members removed itself from the fight to sniff the corpse carefully, licking it once before raising its head and finding Kate about twenty feet away, straight ahead. The dog made a bee-line for Kate, who now swung into action, running for the nearest tree, and vaulting onto the lowest branch. Good, she's safe, Aly thought relieved, as Kate began clambering up higher into the tree.

Suddenly, just as swiftly as they'd appeared, the dogs halted in their attack. Not disappeared, or even surrendered, just stopped leaping for herself and Chase, now just circling them out of range of Chase's hooves, watching them as if appraising the situation. And that's when Aly realized how exhausted she truly was. The adrenaline that had fueled her was now leaving her body, and she began to feel dizzy, her world turning a murky shade of greyish-black around the edges. A glance downward told her why. Without even noticing, she'd acquired a bite to her right calf, and there was a dark stain around the tear in her left pant leg. But that wasn't the problem, or not completely. Aly was standing on a dark patch of earth, the grass torn out in clumps, leaving a bare area of dirt where she and Chase had been defending themselves. She dimly acknowledged that it was her blood she was standing in, her's and Chase's, and that was probably the reason why her world was beginning to spin, making it harder and harder to see and for that matter, stand upright.

As Aly slowly got weaker and weaker, the dogs continued to circle her and Chase, almost like vultures lazily waiting for their prey to die. But at the same time the dogs were calculating, calculating whether it was worth the fight, calculating the weakest link in the two creatures they were pursuing. Aly could tell this, despite her barely being able to stay conscious, and she knew the dogs would reach the same conclusion she had. _She _was the weakest link. The weakest link in the fact that she was smaller, weaker, and much less deadly than Chase, and that she was the chink in the armor of the nearly invincible Chase. Hopefully the dogs aren't smart enough to figure that out though, Aly thought fatigued, knowing Chase would go crazy and not think about what he was doing if the dogs managed to get hold of her, and that could possibly be his downfall.

But the dogs seemed to come to an agreement, and with one yip from a russet colored dog, who, now that the dogs were finally standing still long enough to be able to take more than a passing glance at them, had the air of being the leader, the pack surged forward. As the dogs rushed in on them, Aly was aware that she wasn't strong enough to last another attack, and as one dog, faster than the others, barreled into her midsection, she knew that there probably wasn't anything she or Chase could do to stop it.


End file.
